Kolkata: If plainspeak is harsh, then "I plead guilty," the BJP's 84-year-old yatri LK Advani has said in response to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's gentle suggestion that he not use harsh words.
Attacked by Mr Advani for being "the weakest prime minister the country has seen", Dr Singh responded on Wednesday by saying "I wish Advaniji success in his yatra. I hope that he would not use language at times, which appears to be intemperate. In politics, it is better to avoid such harsh words."
Mr Advani had a ready response to that as his yatra rolled into Kolkata. "My strongest criticism of him has been that he is the weakest PM of all the country has had. If calling a spade a spade is wrong, then I plead guilty, else there is no harshness."
Yesterday, on board his plane while returning from a trip to Pretoria, the PM had made clear he would not counter criticism with criticism. "It's up to people to decide, I am not going to criticize any national leader," he said.
Mr Advani had made his "weakest PM" remark on Tuesday on the ninth day of his Jan Chetna yatra which he has dedicated to the promotion of clean governance. He had declared that he did not expect the UPA government to complete its term in office and asked his party to prepare for mid-term elections. Today he continued that attack, "The Central government is showing symptoms of decline, not only because their ministers are in jail and others are in queue, but also because I have never seen senior ministers speak about each other the way they are doing...the state of affairs in the central government is equivalent to multi-organ failure."
In West Bengal, Mr Advani asked why his one-time political associate Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister and now a partner of the Congress, was silent on corruption at the Centre. "I miss the outspokenness of Mamata; which even my government had to face...I don't know why she is reticent on the massive central government scams."
Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress was a part of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, before parting ways on an acrimonious note in 2001. The Trinamool Congress is the second largest partner in the UPA government. The Trinamool and the Congress are also coalition partners in West Bengal.
Attacked by Mr Advani for being "the weakest prime minister the country has seen", Dr Singh responded on Wednesday by saying "I wish Advaniji success in his yatra. I hope that he would not use language at times, which appears to be intemperate. In politics, it is better to avoid such harsh words."
Mr Advani had a ready response to that as his yatra rolled into Kolkata. "My strongest criticism of him has been that he is the weakest PM of all the country has had. If calling a spade a spade is wrong, then I plead guilty, else there is no harshness."
Yesterday, on board his plane while returning from a trip to Pretoria, the PM had made clear he would not counter criticism with criticism. "It's up to people to decide, I am not going to criticize any national leader," he said.
Mr Advani had made his "weakest PM" remark on Tuesday on the ninth day of his Jan Chetna yatra which he has dedicated to the promotion of clean governance. He had declared that he did not expect the UPA government to complete its term in office and asked his party to prepare for mid-term elections. Today he continued that attack, "The Central government is showing symptoms of decline, not only because their ministers are in jail and others are in queue, but also because I have never seen senior ministers speak about each other the way they are doing...the state of affairs in the central government is equivalent to multi-organ failure."
In West Bengal, Mr Advani asked why his one-time political associate Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister and now a partner of the Congress, was silent on corruption at the Centre. "I miss the outspokenness of Mamata; which even my government had to face...I don't know why she is reticent on the massive central government scams."
Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress was a part of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, before parting ways on an acrimonious note in 2001. The Trinamool Congress is the second largest partner in the UPA government. The Trinamool and the Congress are also coalition partners in West Bengal.
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