Manmohan Singh’s remark meant for someone else: Arun Jaitley

March 25th, 2011 - 8:53 pm ICT by ANI  

Manmohan Singh New Delhi, Mar 25 (ANI): Referring to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s remark that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran L.K Advani thinks being Prime Minister is his birth right, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, on Friday said that Dr. Singh’s remarks were addressed to Advani, but meant for some one else.”When the Prime Minister addressed Mr. Advani to suggest that the latter thinks it is his birthright, I think he was addressing somebody else. Neither Mr. Advani nor BJP believes in birthright,” Jaitley told reporters.

Making an indirect though obvious reference to the Gandhi family, Jaitley said that the Prime Minister was trying to convey this message to the Gandhi family, which had a tradition of dynastic rule.

“Democratic parties elect leaders on the basis of merit and never accept the concept of birthright. It is only parties which work on the concept of succession talk of birthright,” he added.

On Wednesday, Dr. Singh took on the Opposition over the cash-for-votes scandal, describing their approach as undemocratic and jocularly said Advani believes being Prime Minister was his birthright.

“The attitude of the Opposition is undemocratic. L.K Advani believes being the Prime Minister is his birthright. Further investigation of the scam is in progress. The probe committee report on cash-for-votes scam is inconclusive,” Dr. Singh said in the Lok Sabha.

“The government cannot verify context or veracity of the US cables. We should not go by what some embassy official writes about us. We were not involved in any illegal act nor had we authorised anybody to indulge in any bribe given during the 2008 confidence vote,” he added.

Dr. Singh had earlier claimed that Members of Parliament were not bribed during the July 2008 trust vote. (ANI)

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