By IANS,
New Delhi : In a snub to L.K. Advani’s challenge to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a live television debate ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress said it shows the desperation of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial aspirant.
“Advaniji is in a tearing hurry to fortify the post of prime minister, but this will continue to elude him and this is good for the country. Advaniji seems to have forgotten what the parliamentary system is. In a parliamentary procedure, issues are debated and would be debated,” union minister and party spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters in response to a question on Advani’s challenge.
Addressing an election rally Thursday in Arunachal Pradesh, Advani said: “Let the prime minister come for a live TV debate for which I am ready. This is the practice prevalent in the US during elections.”
Sharma wondered “why Advani got this revelation now in his political career of five decades”.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said: “Advani has assumed that he can do an Obama in India.”