Congress distances itself from Jha's remark on Vajpayee

NEW DELHI: Congress today distanced itself from party spokesperson Sanjay Jha's remark that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the weakest Prime Minister India ever had.

"Congress has so far never said this. It might be his personal tweet and not a Congress tweet," senior party spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters when asked about Jha's tweets on Vajpayee, which has created a controversy.

Jha on Monday had called Vajpayee the 'weakest' Prime Minister India ever had. His comments came within days of Congress party praising Vajpayee on its party website.

In a series of tweets on micro-blogging site Twitter, Jha had said, "The weakest PM ever was AB Vajpayee, who wanted to sack Mr Modi for the ghastly Gujarat massacre, but succumbed to BJP bullying."

Jha had also hit out at Vajpayee for his stand with Pakistan on Kargil. "The weakest PM India ever had was AB Vajpayee who despite the treachery of Kargil, gave Musharraf a red carpet welcome at Agra. The weakest PM India ever had was AB Vajpayee who was hugging PM Nawaz Sharif, even as 50 soldiers had lost their lives in Kargil, " Jha had tweeted.

This had drawn a sharp reaction from the BJP. Sharma also attacked BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for his derogatory remarks against Priyanka Gandhi. "He is a habitual blackmailer and diabolical mind," Sharma said. He also asked whether Swamy has been readmitted to the BJP after tendering an unqualified apology to Vajpayee, RSS and BJP whom he had called names.