New Delhi: Having accused his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh of colluding with Pakistan to influence Gujarat Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday had an awkward encounter with Dr Singh when both the leaders came face to face with each other during a function to commemorate the martyrs of Parliament attack.
Mr Modi and Dr Singh met and shook hands outside Parliament as they made their way into the House to pay tribute to the people who lost their lives in the 2001 Parliament attack.
Both the leaders merely shook hands as they stood in a line to pay their homage and floral tributes to the departed souls.
Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi, who has been engaged in an often fierce battle of wits with BJP leaders over the Gujarat election, was also present at Parliament and appeared to share some lighthearted moments with Union ministers Sushma Swaraj and Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Later the Congress released a video of Dr Singh reading out the statement that he had issued on Monday asking Mr Modi to apologise for his utterances against him.
“I am deeply pained and anguished by the falsehood and canards being spread to score political points in a lost cause by none less than Prime Minister Narender (sic) Modi. Fearing imminent defeat in Gujarat, desperation of Prime Minister to hurl every abuse and latch on to every straw is palpable,” he said.
“I sincerely hope that he will apologise to the nation for his ill thought transgression to restore the dignity of the office he occupies,” Dr Singh said.
