Stung by BJP leader L K Advani’s remarks that the UPA camp was using a “dalal (broker)” to save the Government, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh hit back on Tuesday.

“I consider that Advani has made a direct attack on me through his comment that the Congress earlier did ‘lal salaam’ (a reference to the Left) while now it was doing ‘dalal salaam’,” Amar Singh said at a press conference here.

“Advani is using this kind of language out of sheer frustration at his dream of becoming the prime minister not materialising,” Singh said, adding “the SP was born to counter communal forces. Our support to the Government creates an obstacle in Advani’s dream”.

He also noted that the same Advani had come to pay ‘salaam’ to him some three months back, to present him a copy of his autobiography, My Country, My Life. Singh showed copy of the autobiography to the media, pointing out that in the note in the book, Advani called him a “brother”.

“I was elated that he had not only gone to present a copy of his autobiography personally to Sonia Gandhi but to me also some three months back. Now when he is accusing the Congress of doing ‘dalal salaam’, was I not a ‘dalal’ at that time? How can I become one within three months?” Singh asked.

The SP leader also took an indirect swipe at the Left for contemplating to vote alongside the BJP. “While Advani’s remarks were a personal attack on me, they also marked a significant development where the quarrel between ‘saffron (read BJP)’ and ‘lal (read Left)’ has completely vanished,” said Singh. “After the Congress it is Advani who has started doing ‘lal salaam’.”

... contd.