Much acrimony was generated before the polls between prime minister Manmohan Singh and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha LK Advani.
The olive branch has been exchanged between two titans of Indian politics.
Much acrimony was generated before the polls between prime minister Manmohan Singh and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha LK Advani. Both leaders have since apologised to each other for the war of words.
On board his special aircraft, while returning from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit at Yekaterinburg in Russia, Singh said he and Advani had buried the hatchet over the vitriolic election campaign. “Advaniji called to congratulate me on the results and during the conversation he expressed regret. I promptly reciprocated the gesture,” Singh told reporters.
The prime minister said he had no choice but to respond to the BJP leader’s barbs. “I was compelled to reply to him [Advani]. I did say something which Mr Advani said hurt him. When he rang up on May 16 to congratulate [me] on the election results, he expressed regret. I also conveyed my apologies if I had hurt him,” Singh said.
The campaign had turned into a personal battle between the prime minister and Advani, the man who sought to replace him. While Advani called Singh a “weak prime minister” who was remote-controlled by 10 Janpath (Sonia Gandhi’s residence), the PM retaliated by raking up the BJP veteran’s alleged role in the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
What followed was almost a daily dose of no-holds-barred exchanges between the two leaders. Advani continued to harp along the “weak prime minister” theme and Singh went on to target him about the terror attacks on the parliament and Red Fort, and also the IC-814 hijacking that forced the government to release four terrorists when the BJP leader was the country’s home minister.
Singh’s attempt to reach out to the opposition after the polls is in line with the policy agreed upon by the Congress leadership, which doesn’t want to be seen as either gloating or behaving arrogantly in the wake of their victory. The poll results appear to have humbled leaders on both sides of the political divide. Though Advani was not available for a response, his aides welcomed Singh’s gesture.
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