Congress, BJP lock horns over Washington Post's criticism of Manmohan Singh

[1]

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on Wednesday termed as unfortunate the Washington Post report that has described Dr. Manmohan Singh as a silent Prime Minister, saying the government will seek an apology from the editor and publisher of the U.S. daily.

"If the Washington Post has published such a statement of our Prime Minister, then I will strongly protest ", she said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on its part said the Washington Post report has now made the Prime Minister's position untenable, and added that Dr. Manmohan Singh must resign immediately.

"It has taken a long (time) for the Washington Post to realise that the Prime Minister of India does not speak, and now not speaking proves his guilt as well. The position of the Prime Minister today is untenable," said BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

"The BJP has been demanding his resignation, as an appropriate step. I hope his conscience pricks him and he decides to quit," he added.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut used the report to target the ruling UPA Government, and said the paper had reflected the view of everybody in India.

"Not just the Washington Post, but every post says so. We are also saying that the Prime Minister and his whole government are inefficient. Everyday a new scam comes to light, the government is not functioning and the common man is suffering," said Raut.

"Considering these conditions of the country, I feel that the demand for Prime Minister's resignation is right. If we need to save the country, then we will have to remove this Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh)," he added.

The Washington Post report says 'the shy, soft-spoken 79-year-old is in danger of going down in history as a failure'.

"But the image of the scrupulously honorable, humble and intellectual technocrat has slowly given way to a completely different one: a dithering, ineffectual bureaucrat presiding over a deeply corrupt government," the report says.

"Every day for the past two weeks, India's Parliament has been adjourned as the opposition bays for Singh's resignation over allegations of waste and corruption in the allocation of coal-mining concessions," it adds.

The Washington Post report also mentions Dr. Singh's 'dramatic fall from grace' in his second term.

It may be recalled here that the Time magazine had earlier in July dubbed Dr. Manmohan Singh as an 'underachiever', saying he appears 'unwilling to stick his neck out' on reforms that will put the country back on the growth path.

Dr. Singh, 79, was featured on the cover of Time magazine's Asia edition. With his portrait in the background, the title on the cover read 'The Underachiever - India needs a reboot'.