Thursday, February 16 2006 16:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Opposition BJP today (Feb 16 2006) slammed the President's address to Parliament as "lifeless, dull and directionless" and said NDA would insist on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over the Supreme Court verdict on Bihar Assembly dissolution.

"The President's address was lifeless, dull and directionless. It contained only hollow promises, contrary to facts", BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman V K Malhotra told sources here.

Alleging that the address was an "exercise in repetition" whether it be on the Right to Information, Employment Guarantee Scheme, Bharat Nirman or Welfare of Women and Children, he said, "there is not a single new thing or a new direction."

"That explains the mutes response to the address. Even the occasional applause appeared to be forced," he said.

He, however, said there was a "lot of minorityism" whether it be the Justice Rajender Sachar committee, the ministry of Minority affairs or the 15-point programme for minority welfare. "Not even during Nehru's time had so much of minorityism been practiced," he said.

Regretting that despite concerns from all quarters the address did not mention a word about Iran, he demanded the Prime Minister should make a statement before a debate on the issue.

The BJP, he said, would raise during Zero Hour tomorrow the issue of Muslim headcount in armed forces. Slamming the Government's stand on the issue as "preposterous and atrocious", he demanded immediate withdrawal of the survey.