Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Wednesday held Prime Minister Manmohan Singh responsible for the instability at the Centre and the uncertainty prevailing over the future of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, and said that it may not even complete its full term.
"The situation has changed dramatically in the past few months. There is instability at the Centre and the future of the UPA government looks uncertain. Lok Sabha elections will take place in 2008 and the Prime Minister is responsible for this (instability)", Advani said while addressing an election rally at Ghatlodia.
Tracing the origin of the problem between the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist to Manmohan Singh's interview to a newspaper in which he had reportedly said that his government would take forward the India-United States nuclear agreement with the USA and that the Left parties were free to withdraw their support to the UPA government, Advani said Singh's statement riled the Communist parties no end.
The coalition's future came under further stress after Congress President Sonia Gandhi's speech at a rally in Haryana, wherein she said the Communists stance was affecting the process of development in the country, creating an environment of instability and uncertainty at the Centre since August, said the BJP leader.
Comparing the functioning of the UPA coalition with that of the previous Nantional Democratic Alliance government, Advani said that despite the NDA being a conglomeration of 21 different parties, Vajpayee gave an excellent example of how a coalition government should be run.
Flaying the Prime Minister on the Indo-US nuclear deal, he asked whether Singh was ready to make a pledge "to the end that India would never undertake any further nuclear tests.
"We do not agree to it. We are opposed to the nuclear deal. This agreement is not beneficial to us. The Communists are also against the deal. However, the difference between us and them is that the Left parties are opposed to strong ties with US," Advani said.
The trial of the conspirators involved in the Parliament attack was completed expeditiously, the BJP leader said, and questioned why the UPA government has not yet executed Afzal Guru, the main conspirator in the Parliament attack case.
The trial court had sentenced Afzal to death and it was confirmed by the High Court and the Supreme Court. Yet the UPA government is not carrying out the court's order, Advani said, asking the Congress party to tell the people who were the real `maut-ke-saudagars' (merchant of death).
Referring to the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament, Advani said if the five terrorists had succeeded in their plan, it would have changed the course of Indian democracy.
