Singh, Sonia: Mixed response

New Delhi, Jan. 30: The BJP today singled out Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a vicious attack on a variety of issues. From the induction of “tainted” ministers in the cabinet to the Indo-US nuclear deal, the bullets flew thick and fast.

Sonia Gandhi seemed to be getting a breather, though, with the BJP concentrating its firepower on the Prime Minister and the RSS finally finding a good word to say about the UPA chairperson.

BJP insiders said the move is guided by the “growing” perception that Singh’s image has taken a beating of late.

“From being a decent, academic sort of person, the PM is now being perceived to be a weak administrator who cannot assert himself against patently wrong decisions. We look at the latest cabinet expansion, too, as a stark example of how he has been singularly ineffective in enforcing positive changes,” said a senior party leader.

“Where are the Young Turks we keep hearing about? We only hear of ministers without portfolio. Of them, only one name ? Jairam Ramesh ? sounds positive. About the rest, the less said the better,” said a BJP source.

Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad described Singh’s cabinet selection as “curious”. He said “warrants and criminal investigations” have become “a precondition for... a cabinet post”.

The RSS’s Organiser gave favourite punching bag Sonia a rare pat on the back. “Sonia has effectively stepped into her husband’s shoes at Hyderabad. Reminiscent of the Mumbai call to eschew the power-brokers seeped into the system, Sonia Gandhi’s stern chiding of the culture of sycophancy in the party has taken everybody by surprise,” its editorial said.

But its Hindi magazine, Panchjanya, was scathing in its comments on Singh. “What does the saintly, decent, honest Prime Minister Manmonhan Singh say on the developments in Bihar and the Supreme Court judgment on Buta Singh?” it asked.

The BJP slammed Singh’s “volte-face” on the nuclear pact with the US and the vote on Iran at the IAEA.

Prasad said the Prime Minister had “negated” all the promises he made in Parliament. “The separation and identification of India’s nuclear facilities is no longer voluntary, it is no longer in phases and there is no recognition of India’s nuclear weapon status because the safeguards are to operate in perpetuity. In short, the country’s nuclear programme is sought to be capped. We demand an answer from the PM. He should immediately call a meeting of senior Opposition leaders.”