New Delhi: Apparently seeking to drive a wedge in BJP, Congress on Wednesday questioned the "alacrity" with which the Prime Minister's Office has responded to reports which claimed that Home Minister Rajnath Singh's son had been ticked off by Narendra Modi for alleged "misconduct".
"The strange thing is that as opposition party, Congress has not levelled any allegations against his (Rajnath's) son.
"We would like to know very politely from Rajnath Singhji that when Congress as the main Opposition party did not make any such allegation, who levelled these allegations against his son?" Congress general secretary Ajay Maken told reporters.
He also referred to the statement of Singh in the morning that he would quit politics if even "prima facie" it is proved that any of his family members had been involved in any misconduct.
"Sometime later, (Prime Minister) Modi's tweet came that allegations against his son are untrue... So the country and the Congress party want to know, you (Singh and Modi) should first of all say what are the allegations that you are denying," he said.
Reacting to the development, Congress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda said, "We would like to know what are these allegations that have made the country's Home Minister so upset... What has caused the Prime Minister's Office to respond with such an alacrity. The country should know what is going on between a senior Cabinet Minister and the government."
The reactions by Congress leaders came as the government was faced with an embarrassing situation over reports which claimed that Singh's son Pankaj had been ticked off by Modi for an alleged "misconduct", prompting the Home Minister as well as the PMO to issue strong denials.
After Singh's strong reaction both the PMO as well party President Amith Shah issued statements, rubbishing the reports and dubbing them as "plain lies" and "motivated and malicious attempt" to tarnish the image of the government and claiming that Singh's conduct has been "beyond doubt".
