Manmohan Singh a failed PM, says Modi

Continuing his diatribe against Manmohan Singh, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he was a 'total failure' as Prime Minister and a number of UPA leaders were not in favour of projecting him for the top job.

Several senior UPA leaders, including Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar and Congress veteran Arjun Singh, were not in favour of Manmohan Singh occupying the post of the prime minister again, he told an election rally in Ambala, Haryana.

"Only the Gandhi family -- Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka -- has been describing Dr Singh as a successful PM" while the fact was that he had failed to deliver as Prime Minister, the BJP star campaigner said.

"He (Singh) is a failed Prime Minister," Modi told an election rally in support of BJP nominee Rattan Lal Kataria. Reiterating that Manmohan Singh was country's weakest-ever Prime Minister, he said it was ironical that the Congress had been hailing him as a hero.

Despite being a Sikh, the Prime Minister had failed to protect the interest of his community in Pakistan where it was being subjected to torture and forced to pay tax (by the Taliban), the Gujarat chief minister said.

Referring to 26/11, he said the Manmohan Singh government had failed to effectively handle the Mumbai assault.

Talking about the UPA, he said at present there were half a dozen aspirants for the post of the Prime Minister in the formation.

Slamming the Congress, Modi said it was pursuing pro-rich and not pro-poor policies.

On the sugar price hike, he said the Congress did not make sincere efforts to check the spiral, adding during the last two weeks, the cost of sugar had climbed to Rs 35 per kg.

The Gujarat chief minister exuded confidence that the BJP-led NDA would get an absoulte majority in Lok Sabha polls and party leader L K Advani would be the next prime minister.

Modi exhorted voters to vote for the NDA if they wanted to put an end to terrorism, corruption and rising prices of essential commodities.