Manmohan Singh is an iron man, says Congress

Countering Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's claim that Manmohan Singh is a weak prime minister, the Congress on Monday described Singh as an iron-man who not only exposed Pakistan before the world without resorting to military means but also forced that country to admit that the terrorists who attacked Mumbai were its nationals.

"Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is an iron man who follows the principle of 'speak less and work more. He is the man who exposed Pakistan before the entire world without the use of arms and forced it to admit that terrorists involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack were Pakistanis and the conspiracy behind the attack was hatched in that country," said Suryakant Dhasmana, media in-charge of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee.

He was reacting to Advani's speech at an election rally in Dehradun on Sunday.

On Advani's allegation that the prime minister took decisions on the advice of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Dhasmana said if the prime minister did so, this was a very good thing as India is a democratic country where governments were formed by political parties.

He said the BJP leader was making such remarks out of frustration because Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have snapped ties with the party.