NEW DELHI: The Opposition National Democratic Alliance has declared Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar its Chief Ministerial candidate in Bihar. It said Governor Buta Singh's recommendation for dissolution of the Assembly when the NDA was close to staking its claim to form a government would be challenged in court.

This was announced here during the release of the NDA's ``report card'' on the one-year performance of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre. The former Prime Minister and NDA chairperson, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, released the 28-page report card that described the one-year UPA rule as ``a year of non-performance and misgovernance.''

NDA convener George Fernandes and BJP president L.K. Advani were present.

The NDA criticised the ``extra-constitutional position of power'' attained by Congress president Sonia Gandhi as Chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC) and ``devaluation'' of the Prime Minister's post.

A major demand made by the NDA was to disband the NAC or make the Chairperson accountable to Parliament.

To a question, Mr. Advani described Manmohan Singh as ``a good person but a weak Prime Minister. An unsuccessful Prime Minister.''

The NDA report card charges the Government with ``devaluing'' constitutional institutions, ``misusing'' Governors, ``gagging'' the Opposition and ``perpetuating'' a single-family rule in the country. The Government ``denigrated'' constitutional institutions, including the Election Commission, and the Opposition.

He said that when Ms. Gandhi was recently asked whether Railway Minister Lalu Prasad was alone in levelling charges against the Election Commission on Bihar, she said, "No, we are with him." Mr. Advani said the UPA's biggest failure was in internal security. It failed to contain naxalites and Bangladeshi infiltration. ``We have all along maintained that these are not merely law and order problems but matters of internal security in which all the States concerned should be involved. It is only now that this Government is going for an integrated approach,'' he said.

Mr. Advani said the basis of UPA governance was ``vote bank politics.''

The Left also came in for sharp criticism for playing the role of a ``second extra-constitutional'' centre of power without any responsibility or accountability for the acts of commission and omission of the Government by virtue of its support from outside.

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