New Delhi, March 05: A day after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart LK Advani ended up on the losing side in the verbal duel with prime minister Manmohan Singh, his party has decided to intensify the attack on the prime minister.
The BJP’s parliamentary party on Thursday decided to get aggressive on the issues of Kashmir, foreign policy and the steps taken by the government under US pressure and continue grilling the prime minister for the rest of the session. Under the new strategy, as many party MPs as possible will raise specific questions on these issues.
“Senior leaders like Yashwant Sinha have been asked to instruct younger MPs on how to use sections of parliament’s procedure to raise these issues forcefully,” said a senior MP.
The party also signaled that it would target Singh on issues like enhancement of pensions to ex-servicemen.
According to a statement circulated by the party, the prime minister had declared on the floor of the house on April 27, 2008, that an enhancement of pensions of jawans and junior commissioned officers had been implemented. “The prime minister has given a wrong statement on the floor of the house. We will take up this matter,” said a senior party leader.
The current bout of tussle between the prime minister and LK Advani comes after a relatively calm period post the elections. Matters flared up between the two again on Wednesday as they took personal potshots at each other during a debate on the motion of thanks.
While opinion is divided in the party over whether this is the best course to follow, Thursday’s meeting shows that for now at least the party has decided to close ranks behind its senior-most leader.
–Agencies–