Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told Rajya Sabha: “Let me categorically state that the Prime Minister, in his statements or speeches, did not question nor did he mean to question the commitment to this nation of either Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister, or Hamid Ansari, the former Vice President. He said the Opposition would not want anybody to say anything in future too to hurt the dignity of the Prime Minister. Aiyar had earlier called the Prime Minister a “neech kisam ka aadmi”. It agreed to Jaitley’s formulation that a statement would be made by him on behalf of the Prime Minister to clear the air. That was a way out for the government as it could not have accepted the Congress’s demand for a statement from the Prime Minister.

Source: Indian Express December 27, 2017 16:25 UTC