Questioning the timing of allegations levelled against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by former telecom minister Arun Shourie, the Congress dubbed his move as a diversionary tactic, as no communication ever took place between him and Dr Singh. Mr Shourie is reported to have claimed that he had informed the Prime Minister of DMK leader A. Raja’s “loot” nearly 17 months ago.
Talking to reporters at a party briefing, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “It is most unfortunate and most regrettable that such sweeping allegations were made against a person of impeccable integrity like the Prime Minister... It is a travesty of truth and a conscious attempt to mislead and misinform, confuse and confound.”
Strongly rebutting the claims made by Mr Shourie, the AICC spokesperson, without naming the former minister, said there was “absolutely no communication” of any kind by the concerned person to the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister’s office (PMO).
“Why such a sweeping allegation was made only after the one-man committee chaired by Justice Shivraj Patil submitted a report, which has catalogued certain illegalities and irregularities by successive governments in last eight-nine years as far as bureaucracy and ministers of their departments are concerned,” Mr Singhvi asked.
Suggesting that Mr Shourie has taken the Patil report personally, the spokesperson said, “Instead of defending himself, he is attacking the Prime Minister without any basis of facts.”
To a specific question on whether he is denying Mr Shourie’s claim of meeting the PM, Mr Singhvi said, “I have said there was no communication, which means all types of communication and I have checked it with the PMO.” Mr Singhvi said Mr Shourie’s raising the issue after lapse of so much time raised serious questions about the motive behind the allegations.