BJP finds fodder in PM's former adviser's book to attack Manmohan

BJP today used a book written by a former media adviser of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to target Congress, saying it has proven true its charge of dual power centre involving Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Singh in which she had the final word.

"I have been saying from day one that the PM presides and madam decides. This has been proved by this book now," BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said, referring "The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh" written by Sanjaya Baru, Singh's former Media Adviser.

Taking another dig, he said even this has been "outdated" now with the current norm being "PM presides, nobody decides".

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the book proves true the "fear" the party had been expressing over the years.

"Between the two of them, the decision is taken by Sonia Gandhi," she said.

Naidu said such a situation had caused a "yearning" among the people for a "strong and decisive leadership" of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

The book says Singh had been "defanged" by Congress in his second term with Gandhi deciding on key appointments to the Cabinet and to the PMO.

The PM, Baru says, seemed to "surrender" to her and to the UPA constituents as he provides an insight into the "cautious equation" between the Singh and the Congress President and Singh's "often troubled" relations with his ministers.