With elections drawing near, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and BJP’s campaign leader Narendra Modi squared off for a round of shadow boxing. Both used the occasion of the 67th Independence Day to launch veiled and direct verbal attacks on each other.
The Gujarat Chief Minister turned aggressive in his attack on the Prime Minister on issues of national security and even challenged him to a public debate on governance, saying the nation is restless for change. However, in a sign that Modi’s internal party troubles are far from over, senior colleague and BJP veteran L. K. Advani said that on Independence Day, leaders should not be critical of each other.
Manmohan Singh insisted that there was no place for narrow and sectarian ideologies in a modern, progressive and secular country. “Such ideologies divide our society and weaken our democracy. We should prevent them from growing,” he said in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi.
On the economy, he said the slowdown will not last long and that steps taken by the Government to boost growth will start showing results soon. On the killing of soldiers and violation of cease-fire on the Line of Control, the Prime Minister asked Pakistan to stop allowing its territory to be used for anti-India activities. “For relations with Pakistan to improve, it is essential that they prevent the use of their territory and territory under their control for any anti-India activity,” he said, in his 10th Independence Day address.
Nearly an hour later, Modi, in his I-Day address in Bhuj, said: “I know the constraints of the Prime Minister due to the imperatives of international relations and the need for having good relations with neighbours. Lal Quila is not a place to challenge Pakistan, but it is definitely a place from where the morale of Indian Army can be raised…. I share the concern voiced by Rashtrapatiji in his address to the nation.” .