BJP hits back at PM

After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's uncharacteristically harsh attack on the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani on Friday, the BJP launched an all out retaliation against Singh led by Advani himself, who accused the PM of having "abdicated" his post.

The old familiar themes of being a weak Prime Minister and only a figurehead were invoked against Manmohan Singh by Advani. "Manmohan Singh has abdicated the post of Prime Minister, he is only a figurehead, the real power is with 10 Janpath," he said during an election rally in Chattisgarh. Advani appeared to be referring to Singh's refusal to debate with him saying he did not want Advani to become an alternative candidate.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi brought attention to the fact that Singh was an MP from Assam, where there have been four bomb attacks in recent times. "This reflects his record when it comes to internal security," he said.

The Prime Minister had said that he may not be a good orator but he knew how to lead, the BJP attacked him on his core competency, economics, today. "Forget everything else, he is highly regarded as an economist, first he could not control inflation and now the government is watching while the country plunges into economic recession," said party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad. "As for being a leader, he barely campaigned in 13 out of the 3000 assembly seats that went to polls in the last five years," said Prasad.

Party general secretary Arun Jaitley said that while orators were not required for the Prime Minister's post, leaders certainly were. "We certainly demand that our PM be a leader at least," he said.