New Delhi:
BJP chief Rajnath Singh has said he finds it "laughable" that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh believes it will be "disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as Prime Minister."(
Will be disastrous to have Modi as PM, says Manmohan Singh)
Mr Singh also said today that it was "unfortunate" that Dr Singh has described Mr Modi, the BJP's Prime ministerial candidate for general elections this year, as "someone who has presided over the mass massacre of citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad." (
PM's sharpest attack on Narendra Modi: he 'presided over mass massacre')
"I condemn this statement of the Prime Minister. It is very unfortunate that the Prime Minister is saying this even when a Special Investigation Team and court have given him a clean chit," the BJP leader said.
Dr Manmohan Singh's attack on Mr Modi this morning, at his first press conference in three years, was one of his sharpest yet. The Congress accuses Mr Modi of not having done enough to prevent the communal riots that lacerated Gujarat in 2002, leaving hundreds of people, mostly Muslims, dead. (
Prime Minister's address on UPA's 10-year achievements: who said what)
Last month, a court in Gujarat had ruled that Mr Modi will not be prosecuted, rejecting a petition that alleged his complicity in the riots.
The court agreed with an investigation report that said there is no evidence to prove that Mr Modi, in his first term as Gujarat chief minister, had fanned the communal violence in collaboration with other members of his government, bureaucrats and police officers.
The BJP has hailed the verdict as a "victory of truth."
Rajnath Singh said in the PM's statement today that he will not seek a third term in the post, he saw an admission of defeat. "He has accepted that the next government will not be from the UPA," Mr Singh said.
His colleague, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain tweeted, "PM says @narendramodi becoming PM will be disastrous. Mr PM it was your 10 yrs that hv been disastrous for India & its people(sic)."