PM tears into BJP's 'mazboot neta, nirnayak sarkar' slogan

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday tore into BJP's campaign of projecting L K Advani as a "strong leader" who can provide a "decisive government", saying his record during the NDA rule "shows something else".

Addressing a public meeting here, Singh also made a veiled attack on BJP saying a party whose politics is based on religion cannot take the nation forward and ridiculed Advani for raking up the issue of black money for "election stunt".

Mocking the BJP flex boards which depict Advani with a catchline 'mazboot neta, nirnayak sarkar' (Strong Leader, Decisive Government), Singh said the saffron party claims that only it can deal with terrorism but its "track record during NDA government shows something else".

To drive home his point, Singh referred to a number of terror strikes, including attack on Parliament and Kargil intrusion, when Advani was the Home Minister.

"During NDA regime, when Advani was the Home Minister, terrorists attacked Parliament, Red Fort, Raghunath temple and Akshardham temple and J and K Assembly. In Kargil, there was intrusion but the BJP government was sleeping," he said.

He also referred to the 1999 IA plane hijacking, saying three dreaded terrorists were freed in Kandahar.

"This is the record of BJP government. Now you have to decide how decisive and strong BJP is," he told the electorate in his first public meeting in the capital which will go to polls on Thursday.