New Delhi:
In an interview to NDTV Profit, Digvijaya Singh offered damning praise of Dr Manmohan Singh - the Congress General Secretary said the PM is doing a "fairly good job." In the same interview, he hints that his substantial criticism of Home Minister P Chidambaram , expressed a few months ago, has had a positive effect. Mr Singh had last year described the Home Minister as arrogant and inflexible in the context of his handling of the Naxal crisis. He says that since then, the Home Minister "has changed a lot."
Here's the transcript of this excerpt from the interview.
NDTV: Have you revised your view on the treatment of the Naxal issue - last year you said it was being mishandled by Mr Chidambaram, you wrote a piece where you even called him "arrogant." You subsequently have revised your view - or again do you have continue to retain a contrary view on that as well?
Digvijaya Singh: There is no contradiction on that; my view was the Congress party's view.
NDTV: The view that "the Home Minister should stop treating this as a law and order issue and tackle the tribal problems, Chidambaram is extremely rigid once he makes up his mind, I have been a victim of his intellectual arrogance many times" - are you saying that's the party view? It was part of the same article.
Digvijaya Singh: There are two different things - one is the issue of handling the Naxalites. If you see the Congress manifesto, it says what I have said. Now as far as my personal remark on Mr. Chidambaram - I have already conveyed my regrets to Mr Chidambaram.
NDTV: And you have had occasion to revise that view about him?
Digvijaya Singh: I think he has changed a lot.
NDTV: He is no longer arrogant - is that what you're saying?
Digvijaya Singh: He has changed a lot.