Thaindian News

Chennai, Feb 21 (IANS) AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa Monday termed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a “weak-kneed head of state” who was taking cover of “coalition dharma” for all the ills plaguing the country.Referring to the prime minister’s recent interaction with TV editors, Jayalalithaa said: “Overall, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s live interaction with the media was not just a damp squib, it was a wretched exercise which showcased a weak-kneed head of state at his helpless best, taking cover for all the ills plaguing the nation using the fragile shield of coalition dharma!”

Recalling Singh’s answer that the disgraced former union communications minister A. Raja was not his choice but an imposition of a coalition partner (DMK), she said it virtually amounted to admission of total disregard for the constitution, which empowers the prime minister to choose his cabinet.

Jayalalithaa said Manmohan Singh, an economist of repute, cannot say that he was unaware about the loss of revenue to the nation when asked about the controversial actions taken by Raja in allotment of second generation (2G) telecom spectrum.

“He (Singh) should have stepped in and stemmed the rot. But, in the interests of a nebulous factor called ‘coalition dharma’, he remained silent. This is the sad reality confronting India today. We have a prime minister, who not only has no control over his council of ministers, but also cannot step in even when he sees things going out of hand,” Jayalalithaa charged.

She also said the prime minister had no satisfactory answers to queries relating to ISRO’s (Indian Space Research Organisation) allocation of S-Band spectrum to a private firm, the Commonwealth Games scam and the Adarsh Housing Society scam, none of which involved the tenuous issue of coalition dharma.