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Advice from both Sonia, wife welcome, says Manmohan New Delhi, May 24 Whose advices did he find more useful, of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi or his wife, Gursharan Kaur, a journalist asked Singh at the national press conference addressed by him to mark the first anniversary of the UPA II.“I think,” Singh began tentatively and went on to tackle it with utmost caution, stating: “I am very privileged to have the benefit of constant advices by Soniaji and my wife.” He kept caution for company as he proceeded further, with “I think” marking the start of the second sentence as well. “I think, there is no…,” he left it hanging and preferred to switch his thought process to a new sentence: “Both of them deal with different subjects.” At this, the reporters who had packed Vigyan Bhavan’s main conference room burst into laughter. Singh finished his reply by making it clear: “I welcome the advice of both of them.” In total, 53 queries
In all, the PM fielded 53 questions as the press conference lasted 80 minutes -- starting at 10:30 am. One of the questions turned out to be a complaint, with a Japanese reporter lamenting the problems faced by foreign journalists in getting their press accreditation. He had to face a lot of hassle while gaining entry for the event as he was holding a temporary accreditation card. The PM promptly tendered his apology, much to the embarrassment of Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and Press Information Bureau chief Neelam Kapur.
Crash condolence
The gathering observed a minute’s silence at the beginning of the press meet as a mark of respect to those killed in the Mangalore air crash. Aviation officials expressed disappointment over the fact that the PM’s Media Adviser mentioned rather casually that over 160 people were killed in the accident, when the toll was 158.
Pak in focus
Journalists were obsessed with questions on Pakistan and the proposed visit of External Affairs Minister SM Krishna to Islamabad for resumption of the dialogue process. Only one or two questions pertained to the United States. No questions were asked about other countries, including the neighbours.
Experience speaks
The PM had addressed the first national press meet about a year after assuming office during the regime of UPA-I and there was none later during the five-year tenure. Similarly, the first such meet of UPA-II has come after a year. Today’s meet was a far cry from what was witnessed five years ago, going by the fact that Singh was relatively inexperienced that time, both as PM and as head of the coalition experiment. The PM was forthright as well as witty in his reply to a question on whether there was any deal with Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav at the time of cut motions in the Lok Sabha pertaining to the Budget. “There was no deal. I assure you on this. Please give up all your misgivings,” he said. There was another tricky question: What was the issue on which he would stake the stability of his government, the way he did on the Indo-US nuke deal -- Peace with Pakistan or development of India? “We will work in both the directions,” was his prompt reply.
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