Sonia deploys veterans to attack PM Modi for targeting Manmohan Singh

Congress takes exception to raincoat dig, says attack is personal and unbecoming of a Prime Minister

Sonia Gandhi deployed Congress veterans P Chidambaram, Anand Sharma and Kapil Sibal to launch a counter attack on PM Modi soon after he took a dig at former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

In 2004 she had named Manmohan as PM of the UPA and even backed him for a second term in 2009.

Modi's remark that the former PM had a clean image despite being in key government positions for five decades and knew the art of bathing with a raincoat on in the bathroom, an indirect reference to the various scams that surfaced during the previous UPA regime, angered the Congress members. He was replying to the debate on President's address to parliament on January 31.

"Firstly he does not come to the House to listen to anyone from the Opposition. Today he was scheduled to come at 5 o'clock. He deliberately did not come at 5 o'clock and he came to the House only after the last Speaker from the opposition had concluded and then he begins his speech. Within minutes of his speech, he attacked the former Prime Minister in the most unacceptable manner," said Chidambaram.

"It was in extremely poor taste. It is unbecoming of a Prime Minister to use such language of a former Prime Minister. It is certainly unbecoming of anyone to say such harsh ugly statement about Dr Manmohan Singh," he said.

Noting the Congress could have stayed back and created a ruckus in the house, the former finance minister said, "We are very, very disappointed, very, very angry with what the Prime Minister said and we expressed our protest by walking out. We could have stayed back in the House and created a ruckus. We would have stormed into the Well of the House and shouted down the Prime Minister but that would have, in the circumstances of today, brought us down to the level of the debate which the Prime Minister wanted. We do not want such a debate to take place. We have walked out registering our protest. We want the people to know that no Prime Minister before the present Prime Minister has used such language against a former Prime Minister," said Chidambaram.

Anand Sharma said Modi had insulted Indira Gandhi too.

"The fact is that he is behaving in an extremely arrogant and insulting manner towards the entire Opposition. He has also insulted the memory of India's martyred Prime Minister Indira Gandhi," "We cautioned him initially not to drag the debate to such a low level," he said.

The Congress defended Manmohan Singh's earlier comment on note ban as "plunder and loot" saying it referred to the policy and not person.

"That is not the way the Prime Minister speaks. It was in the reference of ways of policy and that resulted in plunder and loot. It is not personal. Manmohan Singh never attacked the Prime Minister personally," said Sibal.

Sibal pointed out that the debate on president's address to Parliament has been going on for four days but the PM never bothered to attend house and listen to the members.

Sharma said the Congress too could get personal but it never did that. "We could get personal and start talking about things where the PM's name has occurred. We never did that," he said.