I wish the PM a long life: Rajnath

RAIPUR: BJP president Rajnath Singh on Saturday expressed surprise at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that some BJP leaders had performed a 'havan' to see him dead and wished the premier a long life.

"I wish the Prime Minister a long life," was Rajnath Singh's brief reply when his attention was drawn to Manmohan Singh's statement made in an interview.

"I have never heard of such an 'anushthan' (ritual) nor can I think of someone doing that against another," he said while addressing the media at the BJP's district headquarters in Sarguja, about 350 km from here.

The BJP chief held the Congress, which has ruled India for the most years since independence, responsible for the country's backwardness.

"The Congress was in power for over 50 years and because of the policies of the governments headed by it, India has failed to become a developed country," he asserted.

What the BJP-led NDA government of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee did in six years, the Congress was unable to do in 50 years, Singh said.