Manmohan Singh hits back at Narendra Modi: Innuendos and falsehoods

In a sharp counter-offensive on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 'conspiracy with Pakistan' remark, former premier Manmohan Singh yesterday said he was setting a "dangerous precedent" with his "ill-thought transgression" and asked him to apologise to the nation. In a strongly-worded statement, Singh rejected as "innuendos and falsehoods" Modi's comments, saying he did not discuss the Gujarat Assembly elections with anyone at the dinner hosted by Mani Shankar Aiyar for Pakistan's former foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri here.

Manmohan Singh said he was ‘deeply pained and anguished' by the 'falsehood and canards' being spread to score political points by the PM

"I sincerely hope that Prime Minister will show the maturity and gravitas expected of the high office he holds instead of concentrating his energy solely on erroneously conceived brownie points. "I sincerely hope that he will apologize to the Nation for his ill thought transgression to restore the dignity of the office he occupies," he said.
Singh said he was "deeply pained and anguished" by the "falsehood and canards" being spread to score political points by the prime minister in what he said was a "lost cause" in Gujarat. "Fearing imminent defeat in Gujarat, desperation of Prime Minister to hurl every abuse and latch on to every straw is palpable. Sadly and regrettably, Sh. Modi is setting a dangerous precedent by his insatiable desire to tarnish every constitutional office, including that of a former Prime Minister and Army Chief," he alleged.

Singh issued a statement, listing those who attended the dinner hosted in honour of the visiting former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri. He said besides himself and former vice president Hamid Ansari, others at Aiyar's dinner hosted for Kasuri, were the Pakistan High Commissioner, Natwar Singh, K S Bajpai, Ajai Shukla, Sharad Sabharwal, Gen Deepak Kapoor, TCA Raghavan, Satinder K Lambah, M K Bhadrakumar, CR Gharekhan, Prem Shankar Jha, Salman Haider and Rahul Khushwant Singh. "None of them could be accused of indulging in any anti-national activities," he said. Addressing an election rally in Palanpur in Gujarat on Sunday, Modi had claimed that some Pakistani officials and Singh met at Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's house over dinner on December 6. This was a day before Aiyar's "neech" jibe against Modi that led to his suspension.

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