New Delhi, March 23: Manmohan Singh has been accused of many things of late. After today, he also stands guilty of making the august House guffaw more than once.

Ripples of laughter swept across the House as the Prime Minister recited a romantic couplet for Sushma Swaraj and ripped into L.K. Advani.

UPA leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee and Sharad Pawar thumped the desk as Sushma blushed and Advani squirmed. Most Congress leaders cheerfully debated Singh’s stunning performance after the Lok Sabha debate in the evening.

In a clever ploy to send confusing signals to the Opposition benches, the Prime Minister attacked Advani but cajoled Sushma during the debate on his statement regarding the WikiLeaks disclosures that suggested money was paid for votes during the confidence vote in 2008.

Responding to Sushma’s blistering personal attack on him, Singh said: “Sushmaji had recited an Urdu couplet, I will also do that.”

The Prime Minister did what he promised: “Maana ke teri deed ke kabil nahin hun main/ tu mera shauq to dekh, mera intezar to dekh (Agreed that I am not worthy of your attention/but see my wish, my capacity to wait).”

The repartee was a clever avoidance of the question raised by Sushma through this couplet: Tu idhar-udhar ki na baat kar/ye bata ke kaarvan kyon luta (don’t digress from the topic/ tell us why was the caravan looted).”

Sushma was referring not only to the WikiLeaks controversy but also Singh’s alleged inaction on issues like 2G, CWG and CVC. Singh saw no merit in locking horns with her on these issues.

But he was itching to confront Advani as he has often done in the past. The Prime Minister said: “This is not the first time that I have been faced in my parliamentary career with an opposition onslaught of the type that you have been witnessing of late. The BJP, right from the year 2004, adopted the attitude that we were usurpers. Advaniji believes that being the Prime Minister was his birthright… and, therefore, he has never forgiven me.… All that I can say to Advaniji is that the people of India have voted us into power in a free and fair election; please wait for another three-and-a-half years in the wings.”

Advani was visibly uncomfortable as the entire House burst into a laughter. The BJP veteran had cut a sorry figure when Kapil Sibal suggested Advani had told American officials that his party’s opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal was because of “domestic political developments at play at that time” and his government would not renegotiate the deal.

Sibal recalled Advani had promised to the nation to renegotiate the deal after coming to power and asked, “Isn’t this double speak? If we cannot trust Advani, how can we trust WikiLeaks?”

Advani was not in a position to deny anything as his colleague Yashwant Sinha had already declared that he had accepted it.

Sinha said: “Advaniji had not denied it and you too should accept it.”