
Taking cue from his predecessor L K Advani, BJP president Rajnath Singh said today that no prime minister had ever been 8216;8216;as weak8217;8217; as Manmohan Singh.
As he trained his guns on the prime minister, Singh said the PM had made a 8216;8216;public confession8217;8217; at yesterday8217;s press conference that there were 8216;8216;two centres of power8217;8217; in the UPA. 8216;8216;The Prime Minister has accepted publicly what the BJP has been saying all along,8217;8217; he said, referring to the PM8217;s comments on Sonia Gandhi8217;s role in guiding the government.
The BJP chief also read out letters allegedly written by PMO officials asking ministries not to bypass the PMO before announcing policy decisions, and said, 8216;8216;Pradhan mantri ki bebasi par taras aati hain8217;8217; the Prime Minister8217;s helplessness is pitiable.
Singh also sought to rubbish the PM8217;s claims of the country8217;s economic buoyancy, and said the UPA government had yet to achieve the 8.4 per cent growth rate achieved under the NDA. The BJP, Singh announced, would launch a countrywide campaign on the 8216;8216;steep price rise8217;8217; of all essential commodities next month. Demonstrations would be held in all districts and state headquarters from March 20-26.