Cong, BJP trade barbs over contents of book

The Congress and the BJP traded charges over claims made in a book by PM Manmohan Singh’s former media advisor Sanjaya Baru on Saturday, with Congress describing the book as “cheap fiction” while the BJP said the contents validated their charge.

The Congress and the BJP traded charges over claims made in a book by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s former media advisor Sanjaya Baru on Saturday, with Congress describing the book as “cheap fiction” while the BJP said the contents validated their charge — “Sonia and Rahul Gandhi deliberately compromising the dignity of the PMO”.

Rubbishing claims made in the book that Congress president “remote controlled” the PMO and that Singh played “second fiddle” to her, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi questioned the timing of the release of the book. “They (BJP) remain remote controlled from Nagpur (RSS headquarters). In UPA, it was the first ideal division of labour, perfect harmonious work for 10 long years,” Singhvi said. He also described Baru as a “disgruntled ex-employee”.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Narendra Modi targeted Sonia Gandhi alleging that a “remote” was running the government. “I had heard about remote-controlled governments, but the remote was running the government,” Modi said addressing a rally in Rajasthan.

BJP’s chief media coordinator Ravi Shankar Prasad also charged the “mother-son duo” for having “compromised the office of the Prime Minister, so that they could rule without being accountable”.