New Delhi:
Days after the Congress praised Atal Bihari Vajpayee on its website, party spokesperson Sanjay Jha posted a series of tweets today describing the BJP veteran as "the weakest PM India ever had", using a phrase the BJP has often used for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"The weakest PM ever was AB Vajpayee, who wanted to sack Mr Modi for the ghastly Gujarat massacre, but succumbed to BJP bullying. The weakest PM India ever had was AB Vajpayee who was hugging PM Nawaz Sharif, even as 50 soldiers had lost their lives in Kargil," Mr Jha tweeted
The comments escalated a political war of words over a book by the Prime Minister's former media adviser Sanjaya Baru, who says that Dr Singh allowed his authority to be undermined and Congress president Sonia Gandhi oversaw all major decisions of the government.
BJP leaders say the book is an "official confirmation" that Manmohan Singh was the country's "weakest" prime minister.
Mr Jha retaliated today with a barrage of tweets: "The weakest Prime Minister that India ever had was AB Vajpayee. Gen Musharraf spent a night on Indian soil, while the PMO and NDA snored. The weakest PM India ever had was AB Vajpayee who gave Kandahar terrorists an escort-service, and allowed Parliament to be attacked."
Mr Vajpayee, the BJP's tallest leader, retired from active politics in 2006.
Last week, in an unusual offensive against Narendra Modi, the Congress invoked Mr Vajpayee's reported rebuke to Mr Modi during the 2002 Gujarat riots that "Rajdharma (ruler's duty) should be followed." (
read: Congress ad invokes Vajpayee to target Modi)
"No leader in the BJP can match the stature of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee," the Congress said on its website. "Vajpayee did not think this man (Mr Modi) deserved to be Chief Minister, can you put the country's future in his hands?"
Mr Modi's critics accuse him of not doing enough to stop the riots in his state. A Supreme Court probe has found no evidence against him, which was upheld by a court last year.
Reacting to today's turnaround, the BJP said the Congress is a 'confused party' facing a leadership crisis.