Sonia: Security jab

New Delhi, April 4: The Congress will not stop attacking L.K. Advani despite the BJP leader’s recent attempt to charm Sonia Gandhi.

On Holi, Advani had met the Congress president at her home and gifted her a copy of his autobiography, which is critical of Sonia.

As Sonia tore into Advani in Rajasthan’s Baneshwar yesterday, it was apparent that the Congress would not make a distinction between the personal and the political.

“Not as far as Advani goes. He was most uncharitable towards the Prime Minister inside Parliament and outside and gave the impression of being disrespectful towards the office of the PM. From day one, he was determined not to allow Parliament to run and, on several occasions, ensured that the PM couldn’t deliver a speech without interruptions,” a source said.

The other reason is that for the Congress, Advani is the “face of Hindutva”.

“Any softness towards him may dilute our campaign against Hindutva. We can’t afford a let-up in an election year,” the source said.

The Congress launched its anti-Advani offensive two days after Holi.

Advani has claimed he had no idea that the NDA government had decided to let its foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, accompany militants to Kandahar during the December 1999 hijack crisis. Advani was then home minister and a member of the cabinet committee on security which had cleared the decision.

Sonia played on the “differences” between Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani, a subject of endless speculation during the NDA’s tenure.

“Now that the then home minister of the NDA says he was not aware of it, why did this happen? What are we to understand? That the NDA Prime Minister did not trust him? Why so?” she asked.

Sonia referred to then defence minister George Fernandes’s contention that Advani was very much in the loop and asked why Jaswant was mum.

“Who is speaking the truth and who is not? Why are they hiding the truth?” the Congress president asked.

Then she added the punch line: “Releasing the terrorists in Kandahar was a major incident related to national security. I wonder with what face the BJP is making allegations against us (of) spreading terrorism.”