Cong strikes back, harps on Advani-Vajpayee rivalry

The Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of trying to destabilise the office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by launching a 8220;vicious and unwarranted8221; attack on him.

The Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of trying to destabilise the office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by launching a 8220;vicious and unwarranted8221; attack on him. This came a day after BJP leader Arun Jaitley said a 8220;sad and helpless8221; Prime Minister is a cause of 8220;national worry8221;. The nation needs to reflect on a question whether a sad man can lead a resurgent India, Jaitley had said.

The Congress made a scathing attack on the BJP for targeting the Prime Minister. 8220;This vicious and unwarranted attack upon the Prime Minister is an evidence of diabolical machinations on the part of the BJP to somehow destabilise the office of the Prime Minister and achieve, by underhand means, what they have failed to achieve directly,8221; Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Manmohan Singh is a successful, dynamic and respected Prime Minister and the nation will bear witness to that fact, she said, reading out the statement.

Taking a dig at the BJP, the Congress said in the ongoing battle for supremacy between Atal Behari Vajpayee and L K Advani, Vajpayee 8220;always used the threat to quit as his best weapon and also used this weapon with great success to score victories over Advani8221;.

According to the Congress, during the NDA regime 8212; after the UTI scam, failure of the Agra summit and the botched up Naga ceasefire 8212; on July 31, 2001 Vajpayee said: 8220;Since I am Prime Minister, I am responsible. I cannot manage the NDA. I have grown old. I am also unwell. I shall leave the chair. That is why I have decided to resign.8221;

Following this, 8220;Parliament came to a standstill. The nation was thrown into confusion. So it was Vajpayee, who was a sad and defeated Prime Minister, not Manmohan Singh, who has led the country with great distinction with 9 per cent economic growth, 25,000 crore package for farmers, NREGA, RTI and a host of other achievements,8221; said Natarajan.

Referring to Advani8217;s statement describing Mohammad Ali Jinnah as 8220;secular8221; during his visit to Pakistan, the Congress said that Advani was not a 8220;loh purush8221; but a 8220;low purush8221;. The Congress also referred to how Jaswant Singh had escorted dreaded terrorists and freed them at Kandahar.

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Taking a dig at Vajpayee, the Congress said the former Prime Minister had on December 30, 2005 said at a rally in Mumbai that he was bowing out of active politics. But on September 21, 2007, he sent a poem and letter to party executives in Lucknow, saying he would soon return to active politics, 8220;much to the horror of Advani supporters, who were about to anoint him as the prime ministerial candidate,8221; read the statement.

The ruling party also justified the Prime Minister8217;s remarks at the McKinsey Meet on Tuesday about 8220;fractured mandate8221; tying the Government8217;s hands. 8220;It is a fact that there are compulsions of coalition politics. The Prime Minister has said nothing wrong,8221; said Natarajan.