PMO, Rajnath deny reports on minister's son

Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Wednesday denied that the minister's son wasn't fielded in the Uttar Pradesh by-elections due to alleged misconduct.

The PMO came out with a categorical denial shortly after Rajnath Singh threatened to "quit politics and stay at home" if any of the allegations against his family was proved.

"If any allegations against me or any of my family is proved, then I will quit politics and stay at home," he told reporters here.

The home minister was reacting to reports which had said he was upset that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not want the BJP to field Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj Singh from Noida in the by-election next month.

Rajnath Singh said he had spoken to both Modi and BJP president Amit Shah and "both were surprised and have termed (the reports) baseless".

The PMO said reports in recent weeks linking Modi's apparent displeasure over "the conduct of some union ministers and alleged misconduct of the home minister's son" were "plain lies".

"The reports are plain lies, motivated and constitute a malicious attempt at character assassination and tarnishing the image of the government," the statement said.

"Those indulging in such rumour-mongering are damaging the interest of the nation. These reports are strongly denied."