War of letters

So far, political leaders on either side of the great divide have been using each other’s speeches to vanquish the opposition. So, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been quoting LK Advani to lampoon him; BJP leaders, in turn, have been quoting Dr Singh’s old speeches to return the favour. So it came as a surprise when, at a press conference, a senior BJP leader quoted a columnist in a leading business daily as saying, “Those who have observed Manmohan Singh over the years will tell you that if he wants it badly enough, he gets it. There has never been an instance in his public life when this has not happened. Never, period. They will also tell you that be it not so low a posture or post, if he thinks it will advance his cause, he will take it.”