I expected PM to have last word in democracy, says Advani

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yet again, senior BJP leader L K Advani said he expected the Prime Minister to have the last word in a democracy but it was not so. 

Addressing a press conference, Advani said he had "high regards" for Singh before he became the prime minister. "After he became prime minister, I expected him to have the last word of authority in a democracy. But it is not so," he remarked. In response to a query about his prospects as BJP's prime ministerial candidate in the light of the 'Jan Chetana Yatra', Advani said, "this is not the issue in this yatra." 

The party would announce the prime ministerial candidate at the time of elections, he added.

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Earlier, Advani criticised Singh for "scourge of price rise" saying "there is gross mismanagement of food economy under an economist prime minister." 

BJP chief spokesman Ravishankar Prasad who accompanied Advani said the Jan Chetana Yatra -- organised to focus on inflation, corruption and black money -- had entered its 24th day today, covering 100 districts in the country and about 10,000 km.

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Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani was greeted with black flags by members of the National Students' Union of India, students' wing of the Congress, when his 'Jan Chetna Yatra' arrived in suburban Bhandup in Mumbai on Friday.

The NSUI members carried out the protests demanding action against BJP leaders in Karnataka for their alleged corruption.

Talking to PTI, NSUI Mumbai president Suraj Thakur said, "BJP is a party of corrupt people. Advani's yatra itself is engulfed in corruption issues."

Out of the 250 protesters, the police detained around 35 NSUI workers from near Metro Mall in Bhandup. NSUI members would follow Advani's yatra in the city, to continue with their protests, Thakur added.

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Taking the UPA government to task for its "masterly inactivity" on black money front, senior BJP leader L K Advani demanded a white paper on the issue of making public names of Indian account holders in Swiss banks.

"I demand that names of account holders in Swiss banks which have been given by the French government to India recently, must be made public and prompt follow up action be taken against them," said Advani.

Hinting that the focus of upcoming winter session will be on black money, Advani said "UPA government has demonstrated masterly inactivity and there is a deliberate design to divert and sidetrack the issue itself. Why the names of the account holders not being released?"

Alleging that the very intention of government is "suspect", he said the taxation agreement with Switzerland would become effective from April 2012 and could enable the defaulters to transfer their account to some other banks or withdraw their money from Swiss bank.

Continuing his attack on Congress led UPA, Advani said it appeared that only DMK was suffering for corruption charges.

"Congress is running the UPA government. Only DMK is suffering for corruption. I have no soft corner for DMK but the names of other persons who have endorsed it have also surfaced in 2-G spectrum scam," he commented.