M A I N   N E W S

PM open to CBI quizzing on coalgate
Says he is disappointed with Sharif over truce violations along border
KV Prasad on board PM’s special aircraft

nothing to hide I am not above the law of the land. If there is anything that the CBI, or for that matter, anybody wants to ask, I have nothing to hide, — Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister on Pak firing At the New York meeting, there was a general agreement on both sides that peace should be maintained along the border but that has not happened BJP’s prospects The BJP campaign for the 2014 LS elections will peak early and the Congress will emerge victorious Series of scams Most of these occurred during the tenure of UPA-I and the coalition received a mandate thereafter in the 2009 elections

October 24
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today threw himself open to CBI questioning on the Hindalco coal block allocation and asserted he had nothing to hide on the issue.

“I am not above the law of the land. If there is anything that the CBI, or for that matter, anybody wants to ask, I have nothing to hide,” the Prime Minister told mediapersons on his way back from Beijing in response to the Opposition demand after the PM’s Office issued a clarification on the Hindalco allocation.

On repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the border over the past few weeks, Manmohan Singh expressed his disappointment with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for going back on the agreement to maintain peace.

He recalled that during his meeting with Sharif in New York last month, there was a general agreement on both sides that peace and tranquility should be maintained both along the Line of Control and the International Border, but that had not happened.

“That this has not happened has come as a big disappointment… The ceasefire agreement was made effective in 2003. If this has held ground for 10 years, it could be made to hold (ground) later on also. That this has not happened is something which is really a matter of disappointment,” Manmohan Singh said.

Sending a strong message to his Pakistan counterpart, the PM said he sincerely hoped Sharif, even at this late hour, would recognise that the development was not good for either of the two countries.

On the political plane, Manmohan predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election campaign would peak early and the Congress would emerge victorious in the 2014 general election.

Responding to a question as to how the party would face the challenge, given the BJP’s campaign under Narendra Modi was already up and running, the Prime Minister said: “The Congress is quite active and I think the BJP may have started early but I think it will also peak early…. I am confident the Congress will come out victorious in the 2014 elections.”

On whether the series of scams, including 2G, coal and Commonwealth Games, in his government had affected his credibility or could affect the party’s poll prospects, the PM said most of these had occurred during the tenure of UPA-I and the coalition had received a mandate thereafter in the 2009 elections.

“The Congress won in that (2009) election and I am sure when the results of 2014 (elections) get out, the country will once again be surprised,” he said. On if the CBI cases could cast a shadow on his legacy as Prime Minister for 10 years, Manmohan said he had done his duty and would continue to do so in the future, leaving it for historians to judge the impact of his work during the last decade.

Responding to whether hate politics was making Rahul Gandhi articulate the thought of a possible threat to his life, the Prime Minister said all sane persons should be worried about the politics of hate, which is now sweeping the country.