New Delhi:
An acerbic exchange in Parliament between the Prime Minister and top BJP leader Arun Jaitley resulted in some words used by both of them being expunged or removed from records.
In uncharacteristically forceful remarks, the Prime Minster today combatted the Opposition's allegations that he has led the economy into Code Red mode, and attacked the BJP for repeatedly disrupting Parliament, holding up important legislation and hurting investor sentiment.
"Have you heard of any country where MPs shout and walk to the well of the House and say 'Prime Minister ** hai'," he asked in the Rajya Sabha after his speech on the economic crisis was derided by Arun Jaitley, the Leader of the Opposition. The word he used to describe a corrupt person was later expunged from the records.
Comments by Mr Jaitley accusing the Prime Minister of using unfair means to win a trust vote in 2006 were also deleted.
"Whatever some members of the House may say about me as the Prime Minister, I command certain status, certain prestige and certain respect in the Council of the Group of 20," the Prime Minister said.
Earlier, Mr Jaitley had criticised the PM's explanation of the economic crisis and the depreciating rupee, stating that Dr Singh's track record as prime minister was of populist policies, not reform.
"If you continue to follow the course, then the legacy that you leave behind will not be the legacy that you left behind as the finance minister. That legacy was different," Mr Jaitley said.
The PM also aggressively dismissed demands by the Opposition for him to explain why and how important documents related to the allocation of coal fields - currently under investigation - have gone missing. "I am not the custodian of files," he said.