What’s there to celebrate, wonders BJP

Opposition leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley sought to puncture the celebratory mood of the UPA on completion of four years of its second term in office.

Opposition leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley sought to puncture the celebratory mood of the UPA on completion of four years of its second term in office. They said the presence of two power centres and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's "indecision, inability and silence" have led to an environment of "gloom and pessimism" in the country.

Prime-Minister-Manmohan-Singh-and-Congress-party-general-secretary-Rahul-Gandhi-join-Congress-president-and-UPA-chairperson-Sonia-Gandhi-as-she-waves-towards-supporters-during-a-party-rally-at-Ram-Lila-grounds-in-New-Delhi-AFP-Sajjad-Hussain

"Coalitions need special leadership, someone who is a leader. Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister, but (he is) neither a leader of the country nor the leader of his own party. Singh's colleagues sit with him in the Cabinet and look towards the UPA chairperson (Sonia Gandhi) for directions. Such a split leadership is the biggest failure of UPA," Swaraj said.

Addressing a press conference with her, Jaitley said UPA's fourth anniversary was being celebrated in an environment of "gloom, pessimism, cynicism and negativism". The BJP diatribe triggered a swift response from the Congress.

“Even an opponent has to be a competent one...But they have a problem in their vision. They should go to cataract camps organised by the government and correct their vision,” Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary told reporters in New Delhi. She said there was no vision in BJP, only “lust for power”.