Manmohan Singh held in 'highest respect' in India, abroad: Congress

The Congress Party on Wednesday rejected the accusations of former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradip Baijal with regard to the 2G scam, saying that former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh is held in the 'highest respect' in India and abroad.

Reacting to Baijal's accusation that Dr. Singh had influenced him on the issuing of 2G telecom licenses, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma told ANI, ""It is a sad thing that former prime minister Dr.Manmohan Singh has been asked to say this. His integrity, his intellect, his transparency and the correctness of his decisions can never be questioned. If it is reference to what has been said by the retired TRAI chairman, that person himself is known for his misconduct: he is under shadow and there are cases against that individual."

"The timing is important: as we were forcing the government to give an account of what they have done, on the non-deliverance on what they had told the people of this country, this thing was said. It should be rejected with contempt; and Dr Manmohan Singh is held in highest respect in this country and across the world, that is a fact," he added.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Singh said that he had never used his public office to enrich himself, his family or his friends, and alleged that the BJP keeps on 'harping' about corruption simply because it wants to detract the attention of people to other non-issues.