Buzz about Sidhu Moosewala’s father contesting from Bathinda as Independent candidate
New Delhi, December 11
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday lashed out at incumbent Narendra Modi for “spreading canards to score political points in a lost cause” and asked him to apologise to the nation.
Referring to the discussions at a dinner hosted by suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar in the honour of a former Pakistan minister, Singh said “I did not discuss Gujarat elections there. The discussions were confined to Indo-Pakistan relations. The issue of Gujarat was not raised by anyone at the dinner. I am pained by canards being spread by the PM. I sincerely hope he apologises to nation for this ill thought transgression to restore the dignity of the office he holds.”
Singh and former vice-president Hamid Ansari were among those who attended the dinner the Prime Minister was referring to during his Gujarat election trail. Modi has accused the Congress of taking Pakistan’s help to fight the BJP in the high stake election.
In a rare statement, former prime minister Singh said Congress did need any certificates of nationalism from a party whose “compromised track record on terrorism is known to everyone”.
“Let me remind Mr Modi that he had gone to Pakistan uninvited after the attacks in Udhampur and Gurdaspur. Let him tell the reason why Pakistan spy agency ISI was allowed in Pathankot Air base to investigate an attack that a emanated in Pakistan,” Singh said adding that his own tenure of public service needed no stamps.
Rejecting “ falsehoods and innuendos about the dinner”, Singh accused Modi of “setting a dangerous precedent with his insatiable desire to tarnish every constitutional office including that of the former PM and Army Chief”.
Singh said Modi’s accusations were being driven by a sense of loss in Gujarat.
“Fearing imminent defeat in Gujarat, desperation of the PM to hurl every abuse and latch on to every straw is palpable,” the former prime minister said on the eve of last day of campaigning in Gujarat, where the second phase polling is scheduled for December 14.
The Congress reproduced the statement, as well as a list of people who attended the December 6 meeting, on Twitter. The list included former vice-president Hamid Ansari and Pakistan High Commissioner, as well as some senior Indian journalists.
