BJP attacks PM, says it's nothing personal

New Delhi: No truce and not stopping the attacks on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: the Bharatiya Janata Party’s strategy remained unchanged as the country entered the fourth phase of General Elections.

BJP prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Sunday again called Singh the "weakest Prime Minister" but insisted it was not a personal attack on the Congress leader.

"I did not attack the Prime Minister personally. I do not indulge in mud slinging. I have not done so either with Singh or anybody else in my entire political career," said Advani at a rally in New Delhi.

"My complaint against Singh is that he cannot take any decisions on his own. He has to send Ministers to 10 Janpath to take the approval of Sonia Gandhi (Congress president) for every decision of his Government. I know this personally."

Advani said the Congress would never get the Left Front’s support if it insisted on making Singh as the Prime Minister. "In particular the Left has said it will never support Manmohan Singh for the prime minister for this time around. Whereas Rahul Gandhi is saying that Manmohan Singh will be its Prime Ministerial candidate. There is a dichotomy in the statements of the two parties," he said.

The BJP’s criticism of the PM seemed planned and coordinated. "All the Prime Ministers, from Jawahar Lal Nehru to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, were capable of taking decisions on their own but Singh is the only one who is dependent on others for the same," he said at a rally in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan in the day.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi kept up the attacks. "Only the Gandhi family-- Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka--has been describing Singh as a successful PM," said Modi at a rally in Ambala city in Haryana. "He (Singh) is a failed Prime Minister."

The PM speaks up

The Prime Minister rejected the allegations and rubbished the BJP’s claim of providing decisive leadership. "During NDA regime, when Advani was the Home Minister, terrorists attacked Parliament, Red Fort, Raghunath temple and Akshardham temple and J and K Assembly. In Kargil, there was intrusion but the BJP government was sleeping," he said at a public meeting in Delhi.

"This is the record of BJP government. Now you have to decide how decisive and strong BJP is," he said.