Advani at the news conference in New Delhi. Picture by Rajesh Kumar

New Delhi, Jan. 24: The BJP grabbed with both hands the chance to pin down the Centre, training its guns on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the Supreme Court verdict on the Bihar Assembly dissolution.

Former BJP president L.K. Advani accused Manmohan Singh of misleading the President and demanded his resignation along with that of Bihar governor Buta Singh.

“Morality, propriety and democratic accountability demands that both the Prime Minister and the governor should quit their offices immediately after the Supreme Court judgment,” he said.

In its 3:2 majority judgment, the court indicted the Bihar governor for the “unconstitutional” dissolution and said the Union council of ministers should have verified his report before acting on it.

NDA convener George Fernandes will seek time from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam soon to submit a memorandum. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the memorandum is likely to be submitted on January 27.

Surprisingly, Advani did not seem harsh on Sonia Gandhi and merely said that as the head of the UPA, she is accountable. His target was the Prime Minister.

“It was the Prime Minister who convened a meeting of the council of ministers in the dead of the night. He was subserving the same motive which had prompted the governor to prevent the duly elected representative of people from having a legitimate government,” the BJP leader told a news conference immediately after the court ruling.

After the oil-for-food scam and the defreezing of Ottavio Quattrocchi’s accounts, the BJP is going all out to make the most of the court verdict on Bihar.

Although the court indicted Buta, Advani insisted: “The culpability of the Prime Minister is evidently greater.”