PM demeaned own office, says Advani

JOINING issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for back ing Rahul Gandhi as the “future leader of Uttar Pradesh”, Leader of Opposition L K Advani today accused him of inflicting “great damage” to the office of the PM with his “belittling subservience” to not only Congress president Sonia Gandhi but even to her son.

Speaking to The Indian Express enroute election rallies in eastern UP, Advani said: “I am not surprised at Rahul Gandhi for promoting the dynasty concept but am shocked that the Congress party by its behaviour should give legitimacy to this theory. And now even the Prime Minister has endorsed it. I would like UPA constituents to stand up and let people know on which side are they.” He was also critical of Rahul for his Babri demolition remark, the swipe he had at former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, and his latest on how the Gandhi family ensured division of Pakistan. Advani pointed out that the first statement evoked a reaction from Manmohan Singh, who complimented Rao for what he had done for the country, and that the second statement had annoyed Pakistan.

“I disagree with the view that these statements are due to the political immaturity of the young Congress leader. I regard these statements as having dangerous implications for democracy. Just as intolerance towards dissent is dangerous for democracy, so is the arrogance that only one dynasty is qualified to rule. It is a threat to democracy,” Advani said.

At a public rally in Khalilabad, Advani continued to target Manmohan Singh and the Nehru-Gandhi family. Reminding the gathering that the biggest threat to democracy since Independence came in the form of Emergency in 1975, he said: “Let us not forget the root cause of Emergency was the Allahabad High Court judgment against Mrs Indira Gandhi and the assertion of the then Congress president that Indira was India. It is precisely this mindset that is evident in Rahul Gandhi’s statements.” He charged the Prime Minister with achieving “heights of sycophancy” by going to the length of “showing sub servience” to Rahul. “Manmohan Singh has demeaned his own office and himself in a manner that I feel sorry for him,” Advani said.

Besides targeting the Con gress at the three rallies in Basti, Khalilabad and Dome riaganj, Advani stuck to the issue of development and the need for people to go beyond caste and religion. The Ram janmabhoomi and Hindutva issues were missing. He targeted the Mulayam Singh government for the “lawlessness that led to Nithari”, Mayawati for promoting casteism and the Congress for the DSP (dal, subzi and pyaaz) price rise.

While he tried reaching out to Muslims by reminding them it was the BJP that had appointed APJ Abdul Kalam as the President, Advani slammed the UPA government for not taking a decision on the Mohammed Afzal case despite the fact that the latter was a “terrorist”.

He said it was time that people voted for the BJP to remove UP from the BIMARU list “like Bihar had turned around under the NDA and Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan under the BJP”.