BJP-JD(U) on different pages over Time remark

The JD (U) did not endorse the BJP’s “we-knew-it” approach in response to the Time magazine’s criticism of PM Manmohan Singh on Monday, saying the report doesn’t deserve attention and launching into a generalised critique of Time magazine, capitalism, the west.

The JD (U) did not endorse the BJP’s “we-knew-it” approach in response to the Time magazine’s criticism of PM Manmohan Singh on Monday, saying the report doesn’t deserve attention and launching into a generalised critique of Time magazine, capitalism, the west.

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Meanwhile, JD (U) leader Shivanand Tiwari made light of his party’s gag order to leaders, attacking LK Advani for “backing” Modi in relation to the Gujarat riots.

BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad agreed with the magazine, saying: “What has been stated is nothing new. The common man of this country has been saying this for a long time. India knows conclusively in the ninth year of his Prime Ministership that Manmohan Singh is indeed an underachiever.” He recalled that credit rating agencies had already given a thumbs down to India.

NDA convenor Sharad Yadav was on a different page, saying the western powers weren’t happy even with the government’s espousal of the free market, and were asking for more. Saying the government and the PM should now rethink their support to the free market, he added that the Time magazine report did not warrant serious consideration. “Time is the patron of capitalism. It wants FDI.

It’ unfortunate that we are giving so much importance.”

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, however, called the UPA government non-performing but refrained from making any comments on the PM.

However, JD (U) MP Tiwari made a scathing attack on Advani over his blog post that Kalam had appreciated Narendra Modi in the context of his Gujarat visit in 2002.

Meanwhile, the Congress dug out a 2002 article from the Time magazine, which spoke of Atal Behari Vajpayee in disparaging terms.

Ridiculing the BJP for treating Time as its “latest Bible,” party’s spokesperson Manish Tewari asked whether the party also endorsed remarks by the same journal in 2002 that attacked Vajpayee.