Surat (Gujarat), Apr 23: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh on Thursday accused the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh of making personal attacks on BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani.

“The main thing that our leaders have said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government was weak. Manmohan Singh should not take the comments on weakness of the UPA Government as a personal attack on him,” he told reporters here.

Dhar (Madhya Pradesh), Apr 23: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said that her party did not need the Bharatiya Janata Party’s advice for tackling issues like terrorism.

Sonia Gandhi also accused the BJP of kneeling down to terrorists during the Kandahar plane hijack episode.

“When the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was in power, it had bowed down to terrorists, but now, the same party is telling us how to deal with terrorism,” she said at an election rally here.

Patna, Apr 23 : Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday denied any rift with the Left parties and said that the United Progressive Front (UPA) would welcome a post-poll coalition deal with them if the alliance is not able to succeed in the elections.

Talking to reporters here, Lalu said, "The doors for a post-poll alliance with the Left is still open. We had difference with the Left only over the civilian nuclear deal and nothing else. We have been friends with CPI (M) for a long time."

Kathmandu, Apr 23 : Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has started talks with the diplomatic mission chiefs here over the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Rookmangad Katawal row.

Envoys from eight countries including the United States, United Kingdom, India, China and Japan are attending the meeting at the PM''s residence in Baluwatar today.

Finance Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai is also present.

Dahal has deferred action against General Katawal due to increasing international pressure.

New Delhi, Apr 23 : Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat has ruled out the possibility of forming a post-poll alliance with the with the Congress party.

In an exclusive interview with TIMESNOW, Karat clarified that his party''s aim is to see that there is a "non-Congress secular government."

He revealed that in the event of the CPI (M) failing to do so, it "would prefer to sit in the opposition."

Washington  - US President Barack Obama and key administration officials launched a full media blitz Wednesday to push for limits to climate-damaging pollution in the United States, coinciding with Earth Day.

Obama touted the importance of wind power during a trip to the US state of Iowa and called for a "new era of energy exploration," sounding a theme repeated by a series of cabinet members who testified before Congress on the same day.