PM justifies his criticism of Advani

Chennai: Defending his sharp criticism of BJP leader L K Advani, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the nation had the right to know his views on the BJP leader's "completely wrong" accusation against him.

"Whatever I have said, I have done so after giving it due thought. Whatever Advani said was completely wrong. I had to respond to that," Singh said at a press conference in Chennai.

He was replying to a question on his criticism of Advani when he said that the BJP leader was "weeping in a corner" when the Babri mosque was being demolished.

"Advani had been saying some things for the past five years. So, when elections were announced and I was named as candidate, I thought the people of India had the right to know my views on these accusations," the Prime Minister said.