BJP says PM was out of line

The BJP is up in arms against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remark to President George W Bush in a meeting on Tuesday about Atal Bihari Vajpayee's opposition to the India-US nuclear pact.

The BJP charged the PM with whining about his predecessor to the American president. "It needs to be emphasised that all established conventions, mutual regards, and due courtesy demand that domestic politics not be made the subject of discussion by our PM when visiting abroad," Jaswant Singh, former external affairs minister, said.

Even the CPI, an ally of the United Progressive Alliance, had reservations about the PM's remarks, saying Singh had no business discussing domestic politics on foreign soil. "What is said or not said in Parliament are not issues to be disclosed to President Bush," CPI general secretary AB Bardhan said.

But Bardhan's comrade-in-arms, the CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury, said, "The PM cannot be faulted for telling the truth."

Former diplomat Hamid Ansari took a different tack: "It would have been a faux pas if something said in private was made public by the PM. But this is not a confidential issue. The BJP and former PM Vajpayee have publicly recorded their opposition. It is all in the public domain."

Expectedly, the Congress defended Singh. "Whatever the PM has said is absolutely correct," said Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee.