07-16-2008, 12:21 PM
<b>Advani ahead of Cong in 'dalal salam': Amar Singh</b>
Tue, Jul 15 08:57 PM
Hitting back at the BJP, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh on Tuesday said the saffron party should not comment on 'brokers' in politics as they were the first in the race to try and effect a deal to topple the Congress-led UPA Government.
Singh picked on BJP Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani's comments on 'dalal salam', claiming that it was directed at him and said the senior leader should not be the one commenting on this as his emissary Jaswant Singh had approached the SP in a bid to dismantle the UPA Government twice already.
In a sarcastic rebuttal to Advani's comments, he said, "The BJP leader had proved his seniority even in case of 'dalal salam' as he was ahead of the Congress in trying to make a deal with the SP."
"He (Advani) has not been able to fulfill his ambition of becoming the Prime Minister, so out of sheer frustration he is using such language," Singh said.
However, he added, that the Samajwadi Party respected him as a person but would not forge a political alliance with him as it opposed his politics of 'Ram'.
Singh said BJP Rajya Sabha leader Jaswant Singh had approached the SP twice, once at the Maurya Hotel through AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa and recently on July 2 in a bid to topple the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre.
He said the SP had always said 'lal salam' in the past and would continue to do so. "We have never said anything against CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat," he pointed out.
Reacting to BJP's comments that Kalam should not be the last word on the nuclear deal, the SP General Secretary questioned, "who has more credibility, Kalam or Yashwat Sinha and Arun Shourie".
"If they (BJP leaders) attack Kalam, they will fall in the eyes of the public," he said.
Singh said senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh had approached the SP twice, once at the Maurya Hotel through AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa and recently on the second of this month in a bid to topple the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre.
He said that the SP had always said 'lal salaam' in the past and would continue to do so. "We have never said anything against CPM general secretary Prakash Karat," he pointed out.
Reacting to BJP's comments that former President A P J Abdul Kalam should not be the last word on the nuclear deal, the SP General Secretary questioned, "who has more credibility, Kalam or (BJP leaders) Yashwat Sinha and Arun Shourie. If they (BJP leaders) attack Kalam, they will fall in the eyes of the public".
Responding to the CPI leader's charge of horse-trading, Singh said, "Bardhan is a respected leader but he should authenticate his charge with proof. Even my MP has been offered Rs 30 crore by BSP, but I have no documentary evidence."
Asked how the government would be able to succeed in the game of numbers, the SP leader said, "I will tell you on July 22 (the date of confidence vote in Lok Sabha)".
On whether corporate houses were governing the country's political future in the wake of Mukesh Ambani meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the SP leader said, "if industrialisation needs to be done then leaders would have to meet industrialists".
Tue, Jul 15 08:57 PM
Hitting back at the BJP, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh on Tuesday said the saffron party should not comment on 'brokers' in politics as they were the first in the race to try and effect a deal to topple the Congress-led UPA Government.
Singh picked on BJP Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani's comments on 'dalal salam', claiming that it was directed at him and said the senior leader should not be the one commenting on this as his emissary Jaswant Singh had approached the SP in a bid to dismantle the UPA Government twice already.
In a sarcastic rebuttal to Advani's comments, he said, "The BJP leader had proved his seniority even in case of 'dalal salam' as he was ahead of the Congress in trying to make a deal with the SP."
"He (Advani) has not been able to fulfill his ambition of becoming the Prime Minister, so out of sheer frustration he is using such language," Singh said.
However, he added, that the Samajwadi Party respected him as a person but would not forge a political alliance with him as it opposed his politics of 'Ram'.
Singh said BJP Rajya Sabha leader Jaswant Singh had approached the SP twice, once at the Maurya Hotel through AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa and recently on July 2 in a bid to topple the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre.
He said the SP had always said 'lal salam' in the past and would continue to do so. "We have never said anything against CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat," he pointed out.
Reacting to BJP's comments that Kalam should not be the last word on the nuclear deal, the SP General Secretary questioned, "who has more credibility, Kalam or Yashwat Sinha and Arun Shourie".
"If they (BJP leaders) attack Kalam, they will fall in the eyes of the public," he said.
Singh said senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh had approached the SP twice, once at the Maurya Hotel through AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa and recently on the second of this month in a bid to topple the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre.
He said that the SP had always said 'lal salaam' in the past and would continue to do so. "We have never said anything against CPM general secretary Prakash Karat," he pointed out.
Reacting to BJP's comments that former President A P J Abdul Kalam should not be the last word on the nuclear deal, the SP General Secretary questioned, "who has more credibility, Kalam or (BJP leaders) Yashwat Sinha and Arun Shourie. If they (BJP leaders) attack Kalam, they will fall in the eyes of the public".
Responding to the CPI leader's charge of horse-trading, Singh said, "Bardhan is a respected leader but he should authenticate his charge with proof. Even my MP has been offered Rs 30 crore by BSP, but I have no documentary evidence."
Asked how the government would be able to succeed in the game of numbers, the SP leader said, "I will tell you on July 22 (the date of confidence vote in Lok Sabha)".
On whether corporate houses were governing the country's political future in the wake of Mukesh Ambani meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the SP leader said, "if industrialisation needs to be done then leaders would have to meet industrialists".