Advani slams PM over early polls comment

In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his recent statement that the Opposition was restless to force early polls and see the UPA out of power, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani said the Union government was in an “unenviable mess” of the Congress’s own making.

“At the valedictory session of the BJP National Executive in New Delhi last weekend, I described the UPA government as being ‘in a suicidal mode’. The government is in an unenviable mess. This fact is also widely recognised that the mess is of the Congress’s own making,” Advani wrote in his blog.

Advani also attacked the government for acting against his close aide Sudheendra Kulkarni and two former BJP MPs in the cash-for-vote scam. Advani alleged that the government was taking action against whistleblowers although Singh’s Cabinet had approved a bill to protect whistleblowers, which was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2010.

“The Bill has not become law as yet, but after the Cabinet approved it, the government should feel committed to its core principle. The bill is being considered by the standing committee of Parliament.”

The senior BJP leader also accused the government for protecting corrupt ministers, who are allegedly involved in scams and acting against whistleblowers who were serving democracy by exposing how the UPA government had paid millions of rupees during the trust vote in 2008.

“It is indeed shocking to find that the ruling party these days is exerting its utmost to protect corrupt ministers but has no qualms putting whistle blowers behind bars,” said Advani.