In a scathing personal attack on the PM,L K Advani said that Manmohan Singh had lost 'whatever little legitimacy' he had in the high office he occupies.
NEW DELHI: In a scathing personal attack on the Prime Minister, Opposition leader L K Advani said on Saturday that Manmohan Singh had lost 'whatever little legitimacy' he had in the high office he occupies by doing a 'U-turn' on the nuclear deal.
Singh's statement that non-implementation of the deal is not the end of life confirmed that he was the 'weakest Prime Minister' India has had, Advani said and sought an explanation from him and Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi for causing a 'virtual paralysis' of the government.
The UPA government is at its 'weakest point' now from where the 'journey can only be downhill' for the coalition, whose leaders Singh and Gandhi have displayed extraordinary combination of 'ineptitude, arrogance, immaturity and lack of conviction,' the BJP leader said in a statement.
Advani juxtaposed the remarks made by the Prime Minister on Friday with his earlier assertion that the deal was not negotiable and said "this is certainly the end of whatever little legitimacy he (Singh) had in the high office he occupies."
In the face of stiff opposition from Left parties, Singh said if the deal fails, it would be disappointing but contended that his was not a one-issue government.
BJP has also been opposing the deal, insisting that it would make the country subservient to the US.
"If Dr Singh and Smt Sonia Gandhi have suddenly backtracked, they have done it not out of any principles, but purely due to a rude realisation that going ahead with the deal would sink the government," the former deputy prime minister said.
"The extraordinary combination of ineptitude, arrogance, immaturity and lack of conviction that Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi have displayed in the past three month shows that the thoroughly opportunist alliance, that is the UPA, is unfit to govern India," Advani said.
The party feels that the Congress has developed cold feet over mid-term elections as it does not want the nuclear deal to be the focal point and because of pressure from UPA allies like RJD and the NCP.
"I don't think mid-term elections will take place soon. Several UPA allies are against it. It is a possibility only in the second half of next year," a senior BJP leader remarked on condition of anonymity.
Advani said the BJP still views the nuclear agreement as a "deal between unequals, in which India would have to accept a subservient status vis-a-vis America by surrendering its sovereignty and self-reliance in strategic security matters."
"This agreement amounted to a commitment by India that against the wishes of the US, Indira Gandhi may have done Pokhran I and Vajpayee may have gone in for Pokhran II, but hereafter, there would be no Pokhrans," he remarked.
Meanwhile, the RSS also came down heavily on Singh's statement dubbing it a 'classic case of chickening out under pressure' after calling the opponents of the deal enemies of the nation.
"Who is now the enemy of the nation? Or is it that the lure of power is so strong that the Congress has decided to join hands with the nation's enemies and shelve the deal altogether?, an editorial in RSS mouthpiece 'Organiser' sought to know.
"The Congress has given in to the Left blackmail," it said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}