Manmohan Singh lashes out at Advani

New Delhi, Mar 24 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday criticised Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L. K. Advani for calling him a weak leader.

"Let me say that whether I was a weak Prime Minister or the strong Prime Minister, actions of our government speak volumes for themselves. I know Advani is making this charge again and again, and when I look at his record, all I can discover is the prominent role that he played is the destruction of Babri Mosque. What else has he done afterwards as a contribution to national welfare," Singh told reporters on the occasion of releasing of manifesto of the Congress.

The Prime Minister also said that Advani in his tenure of Home Minister, failed to control western Gujarat riots and could not prevent military attacks on Parliament and Red Fort.

"When Advani was the Home Minister of the country, the attack on parliament took place. His government mobilized Indian troops for 12 months without getting any result, they rolled them back with thousands and thousands of crores of loss. Parliament was attacked, Lal Qila (Red Fort) was attacked, Indian Airlines plane was hijacked and the terrorists were rewarded by being made the honoured guests. This is the record of Advani. He was the home minister, who presided over the massacre that took place in Gujarat. The country must reflect whether this is a person who is fit to hold the office of the Prime Minister," he said.

Prime Minister also alleged that endorsement of the inflammatory speech of Varun Gandhi by BJP is a reflection of its communal agenda.

"The BJP is dividing our people on the basis of the communal lines and the most recent shameful instance of this is their endorsement of the line that its young leader Varun Gandhi has taken with regard to his speeches that he made in Pilibhit," Singh said.

India will hold elections between April 16 and May 13, in which 714 million people will cast their votes. (ANI)