PM must be a leader, not just a reader, writes Arun Jaitley

”During the presidential banquet in his (Obama's) honour, I had an opportunity to interact with the key draftsmen of his speeches. Each of his speeches were prepared by an expert and vetted by a group of officials and eventually by the President himself. Most of the speeches were read out from the teleprompter. The teleprompter had a transparent screen. We, in the audience, thought it was an extempore speech.

But the President was reading from the two teleprompters, even in the Central Hall of Parliament. The impact that his delivery and diction created was huge,” he wrote. The BJP leader was also unsparing in his attack on former Indian cricketer Bishan Singh Bedi, who was in Amritsar yesterday and had heaped praises on his Congress rival Amarinder Singh.

”My friend Bishen Bedi was in Amritsar yesterday. This was the visit with a difference. He came to campaign for a political party (Congress) which has provided India the most dishonest government in history. He came to campaign for a candidate who is accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Bishen has always been a crusader even if he crusades for an immoral cause,” he wrote on Bedi.