Manmohan to take on Advani in his speech

MATTER OF TRUST

The speech itself has been in preparation since July 7, when it became clear that the Left was going to pull support from the government. The PM has confided to his aides that the speech will be sound on facts and in a departure for him, extremely aggressive on the Opposition.

"The PM will come down hard on Advani who has consistently referred to him as the weakest PM India has ever had," said an aide. "While a prepared text will be there with the PM, parts of it will also be extempore, reminiscent of his Rajya Sabha speech in August 2006," added the aide.

His unusually pugnacious mood was apparent today as he entered Parliament premises with a victory sign and replied that there was a 蔴 per cent chance" of the government surviving the trust vote.

Inside the House, he quoted Guru Gobind Singh vowing to fight on. Significantly, an Akali Dal member was seen thumping his desk along with the treasury benches.