PM’s presser only to bid farewell: Jaitley

New Delhi, Jan 3:

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s press conference was only a “formality” and a “farce”, and was held only to announce his farewell, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said Friday.

“In the press conference, he announced he will not be available for leadership after the 2014 general elections. It was a press conference intended to announce his own farewell,” said Jaitley, the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha.

“As the principal opposition party, we wish him all the best… but except for announcing that he was unavailable for future leadership, the rest of the press conference was intended to be a formality, and turned out to be a farce,” he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader took a jibe at the prime minister, saying the most frequently used statement in the press conference was “time will tell”, but in democracy, the decision is taken by voters.

“The most frequently used statement in the press conference was ‘it is for historians to write’ and ‘time will tell’. In democracy, time doesn’t tell, it’s the voters who tell,” Jaitley said.

“The prime minister said the corruption charges were related to UPA I and they won a general election after that. If the 2009 (poll) verdict absolved them of corruption, by that logic the rout of Congress in December 2013 puts a stamp of failure on his government,” he said.

“Going by the own apology, the Prime Minister has no right to criticise Narendra Modi, who has won the mandate of the people not once, but thrice – in 2002, 2007 and 2012 – after the Gujarat riots,” the BJP leader said.

(IANS)