By Manish Chand, IANS
On Board Air India One : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday ruled out resignation from the post over the setback to the India-US nuclear deal as he launched a blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of creating a “holocaust” in Gujarat in 2002 and “sleeping” when the Kargil conflict took place years ago.
The prime minister stressed that his government was still working hard to mobilise political consensus over nuclear deal and he was hopeful that the deal can still be operationalised.
Queering up the pitch for elections likely next year, the prime minister minced no words in attacking the BJP saying that they are “least qualified” to talk about the moral right to govern.
“The BJP of all parties is least qualified to talk about the moral right to govern. Look at the holocaust that took place in Gujarat. It took place when (senior BJP Leader) L.K. Advani was the home minister. He gave certificates to the Gujarat government,” Manmohan Singh told reporters on his way back home from Johannesburg.
“And we all saw the massacre that took place in Gujarat under the BJP. So they did not think of their moral right to govern on that occasion,” Manmohan Singh said in strong words that are set to lead to a confrontation with the BJP ahead of assembly polls in the state in December.
The use of the word “holocaust” in describing the communal violence of 2002 is likely to set off a war of words with the BJP and may harden the party’s stand against the India-US nuclear deal at a time when the Manmohan Singh government is making renewed efforts to mobilise political consensus over the stalled deal.
“What about the fiasco in regard to the Agra summit, the collapse of the Agra summit?” he said while alluding to the summit between then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in 2001 that ended without a breakthrough on key issues dogging India-Pakistan relations.
“And we all know why the Kargil took place. The infiltrators were coming into our country and the government in New Delhi was sleeping. So I think the BJP is the least qualified (to talk) about our moral right to govern,” he said.
The frontal attack by the prime minister on the BJP is a clear indication that his government is moving into the election mode, specially after the stalling of the nuclear deal after the implacable opposition from its Leftist allies.