BJP parliamentary party chairman L.K. Advani on Thursday dubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as “weak” and said that he feels “pity” for him.
Mr Advani, while addressing party’s youth wing’s “Rashtriya Ekta Yatra”, which reached national capital on Thursday, also tried to clarify that he has never personally
attacked Dr Singh but it was always “political attacks.” He also urged the Jammu and Kashmir government as well as the Central government to “support” party’s youth wing’s plan to hoist national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Republic Day. The yatra, which was launched from Kolkata, will culminate at Lal Chowk on January 26.
Meanwhile, the Centre has put 30 companies (3,000 personnel) of paramilitary forces at the disposal of the Jammu and Kashmir government for deployment for BJP’s proposed plan to hoist flag. The move follows a request made by state chief minister Omar Abdullah during his meeting with Home minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday. This is not the first time that BJP has decided to hoist national flag at Lal Chowk. In 1991, at the height of militancy in the state, the then BJP chief Murli Manohar Joshi had hoisted national flag at Lal Chowk.
Addressing the gathering of party workers and supporters in the national capital, Mr Advani said, “I had said in 2009 (General Elections) that I respect Manmohan Singh...but I feel pity on him...he (PM) looks weak.”
He added that the Manmohan Singh government is passing through the worst crisis situation of its entire tenure. It could be mentioned that many within the BJP were of the view that one of the main reasons why party lost the 2009 Lok Sabha polls was personal attack on Dr Singh. This reason was also mentioned in the survey report of BJP which was discussed during the “Chintan Shivar” of the party after poll loss.