A day after the PMO sought to counter the perception that Manmohan Singh has been “weak” in his tenure, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Saturday said that the Prime Minister “walked on snow, but did not leave any footprints”.
“In India, the Prime Minister’s readout speeches are no longer being heard by the people. They are no longer remembered or talked about. The PMO is right. Statistically, the Prime Minister was speaking, factually, he was not being heard,” Jaitley, wrote in his blog.
He wrote that in response to the controversy created by the two recently-published books including the one by PM’s former media advisor Sanjaya Baru, the PMO has clarified that in the last 10 years, the Prime Minister has delivered around 1,200 speeches.
“The PMO thought that this would counter the charge that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not a ‘speaking’ Prime Minister,” Jaitley said. “He must be heard with attention. He must be a leader and not just a reader,” Jaitley said.
The BJP veteran also took a dig at Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law Robert Vadra. Mr Vadra has made it to the Wall Street Journal. The Vadra business model requires the research paper to be prepared by a key business analyst,” Jaitley has said.
Targeting Vadra, Jaitley wrote, “Start a business without any investment. Investment will flow as loans and advances which is a synonym for political equity. Use these loans to buy property at a fraction of the market cost.”
Jaitley, who is fighting his maiden lok Sabha polls from Amritsar against former Punjab Chief Minister and Congress nominee Amarinder Singh said, “Many people are willing to sell property for an inadequate consideration, accumulate a land and a property bank with the patronage of the State. Sell off some properties and repay back the original loan. The rest is all yours with no liabilities. So far this business model has raised only eyebrows. It is time it raises serious questions. That is what the Wall Street Journal has done.”
Jaitley further added that the Prime Minister is the key political executive of the country and must “command both moral and political authority”. “Prime Minister is the face of Indian democracy. His opinion shapes policy. He provides leadership. People look up to him for solutions. A Prime Minister cannot be low-key. He must arouse confidence in people. He must appear confident about offering solutions. He must be a top mass leader of the ruling coalition,” the BJP leader said.
Meanwhile in an interaction with the reporters at New Delhi on Friday, Prime Minister’s Communications Adviser, Pankaj Pachauri reacted by saying that economic data shows unprecedented development in the last decade which would have been impossible if Manmohan Singh had been “weak”, countering the damaging claims made by Baru.
Jaitley said that a PM must be communicative. Making a reference to US President Barack Obama, who during his visit to India earlier, had delivered several important speeches including one in the Central Hall of Parliament and “impressed” one and all.
“During the presidential banquet in his (Obama’s) honour, I had an opportunity to interact with the key draftsmen of his speeches. Each of his speeches were prepared by an expert and vetted by a group of officials and eventually by the President himself. Most of the speeches were read out from the teleprompter. The teleprompter had a transparent screen to help us personalise your reading experience.
“We, in the audience, thought it was an extempore speech. But the President was reading from the two teleprompters, even in the Central Hall of Parliament. The impact that his delivery and diction created was huge,” he wrote.
The BJP leader was also unsparing in his attack on former Indian cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi, who was in Amritsar on Friday and had heaped praises on his Congress rival Amarinder Singh.
“My friend Bishen Bedi was in Amritsar yesterday. This was the visit with a difference. He came to campaign for a political party (Congress) which has provided India the most dishonest government in history. He came to campaign for a candidate who is accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Bishen has always been a crusader even if he crusades for an immoral cause,” he wrote on Bedi.