Los Cabos: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Los Cabos on
Monday for the G20 Summit. Mr Singh, who is in Mexico to attend the
seventh summit of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries (G
20), spoke to a group of Indian journalists here and discussed the
domestic and international developments at length. Answering a question
on the UPA’s nomination of presidential candidate before he left the
country, the Prime Minister made an interesting revelation that the
principal factor that forced the UPA to declare a presidential candidate
before he left for the summit was a news anchor.
“Considering the ruckus that was being created in this television studio every day, there was intense pressure on us”, the Prime Minister confessed. “There was speculation and then more speculation. The situation was fast spiralling out of control. We could not have allowed this situation to continue, considering the general public interest. It could have led to a law and order problem threatening the internal security of the nation,” he said. “I was particularly alarmed after I watched this particular show where the anchor confronted BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman with statements like, ‘You’ve been dodging the question for the last two days. Tell me, now. Who will be the NDA’s candidate?’ It seemed like the anchor would take Ms Seetharaman hostage and refuse to let her go till she revealed a name. It was then that I realised that a decision had to be taken before I left for the G20 summit. I do not know what would have happened to Manish (referring to Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari) if I had left the country without declaring the name of the official UPA candidate. Anything could have happened in these eight days. In all probability, Manish would have been gheraoed in newsrooms, taken hostage by journalists who would have refused to set him free until they had a name. I am happy that we have declared a name. I am happy that a serious crisis has been averted.”
When a journalist asked Mr Singh about news that the anchor’s name had been discussed for the presidential nomination during the UPA meeting at 7 Race Course Road, he replied: “Yes, his name did come up. Some members even suggested shifting the meeting to the studio where the deliberations could be moderated by the anchor with the proceedings being telecast live. But we dropped that idea because, in that case, most of us would not get a chance to speak, though personally I have no problem with that. Also, some of the members were strongly for the anchor being the official UPA presidential candidate. Even more so because his name sounds very similar to the other candidate whose name was being considered. But thankfully, better sense prevailed in the end,” the Prime Minister said.
Link: http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=413989&catid=39
“Considering the ruckus that was being created in this television studio every day, there was intense pressure on us”, the Prime Minister confessed. “There was speculation and then more speculation. The situation was fast spiralling out of control. We could not have allowed this situation to continue, considering the general public interest. It could have led to a law and order problem threatening the internal security of the nation,” he said. “I was particularly alarmed after I watched this particular show where the anchor confronted BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman with statements like, ‘You’ve been dodging the question for the last two days. Tell me, now. Who will be the NDA’s candidate?’ It seemed like the anchor would take Ms Seetharaman hostage and refuse to let her go till she revealed a name. It was then that I realised that a decision had to be taken before I left for the G20 summit. I do not know what would have happened to Manish (referring to Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari) if I had left the country without declaring the name of the official UPA candidate. Anything could have happened in these eight days. In all probability, Manish would have been gheraoed in newsrooms, taken hostage by journalists who would have refused to set him free until they had a name. I am happy that we have declared a name. I am happy that a serious crisis has been averted.”
When a journalist asked Mr Singh about news that the anchor’s name had been discussed for the presidential nomination during the UPA meeting at 7 Race Course Road, he replied: “Yes, his name did come up. Some members even suggested shifting the meeting to the studio where the deliberations could be moderated by the anchor with the proceedings being telecast live. But we dropped that idea because, in that case, most of us would not get a chance to speak, though personally I have no problem with that. Also, some of the members were strongly for the anchor being the official UPA presidential candidate. Even more so because his name sounds very similar to the other candidate whose name was being considered. But thankfully, better sense prevailed in the end,” the Prime Minister said.
Link: http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=413989&catid=39
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