Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's statement to the media at Parliament House

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It has been my general practice not to respond to motivated criticism directed personally at me. My general attitude has been:

Hazaaron jawaabon se acchi hai meri khaamoshi
Na Jaane kitne sawaalon ki aabroo rakhi

But this is one occasion where I do want, and I ardently wish that I should be given the opportunity to speak to the Parliament, and also the public at large, and take them into confidence, but I am sorry that the House is not allowed to function, and that the BJP is determined to disrupt the normal functioning of Parliament.

I wish to assure the country that we have a very strong and credible case, the observations of the CAG are disputable, and they will be challenged when the matter comes before the Parliamentary Accounts Committee. So once again I appeal to the Opposition to come back to the House, to debate all these issues, and let the country judge where the truth lies.