PM firm on CAG debate, tells BJP to wait till 2014

A combative Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday asserted that he would be here to stay and attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] for its 'diversionary tactics' in stalling Parliament and demanding his resignation over the grant of coal mining rights that has swirled into a major national controversy.

He said that his United Progressive Alliance government was elected for a five-year term and the BJP should respect the 'verdict of the people'.

Speaking to reporters on board his special aircraft on the way back from Tehran, he said the BJP should wait for the 2014 General Election to test its strength, rather than seeking to remove him from office arbitrarily.

'If I were resigning, I won't be here,' the prime minister said bluntly on his return from a four-day visit to Tehran to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit.

This is the first time the prime minister, who has been under attack for much of the last two weeks, has spoken to the media on this issue. He was relaxed and at no point looked a man who has been under much political pressure. 

He also said he did not want to get into a slanging match with the BJP on the issue as he wanted to maintain the dignity of his office. 'I have to maintain the dignity of the office of the prime minister. I can't get into a tu-tu main-main or a slanging match with other political leaders. So, it is better, as I said earlier, that I keep silence,' he said.

The prime minister lamented a 'lack of cohesion in domestic policy' as one of the reasons for his government not being able to push forward economic reforms. 

'There are lots of things we would have liked to do. Certainly, lay the foundation for nine per cent growth rate but international events have not helped,' he said when asked whether he had any regrets about not achieving what he set out to achieve.