New Delhi:Â The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has hit out at former media advisor, Sanjaya Baru, for his book which accuses Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi of undermining Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The statement called the writings, “fiction” and “coloured”, rubbishing the accusations as “baseless and mischievous”.
“It is categorically denied that any PMO file has ever been shown to Smt. Sonia Gandhi,” PMO spokesman Pankaj Pachauri said in a statement on Sunday.
Mr Pachauri was responding to the claims by Mr Baru in his book ‘Accidential Prime Minister – The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh’ and comments to media that the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterjee would seek “instructions” from Mrs Gandhi on important PMO decisions.
“The book written by the former media adviser is an attempt to misuse a privileged position and access to high office to gain credibility and to apparently exploit it for commercial gain. The commentary smacks of fiction and coloured views of a former adviser,” the PMO statement said.
The statement reiterated that “the question about comments of the former media advisor was raised by senior editors when they met the Prime Minister in October last year. His answer was “- Do not believe all he is saying”.
The PMO statement came amidst strong attack by the Opposition on Mrs Gandhi and the Prime Minister, using the claims by Mr Baru.
Mr Baru today claimed that the book is “very balanced” and also highlighted the achievements of UPA but said the media has only focussed on the criticism in it.
Senior BJP leaders including L K Advani and Arun Jaitley attacked ruling Congress and Dr Singh over the book, saying it is a confirmation of what the world already knew that he is a “weak” PM and Mrs Gandhi had the last word in government matters.
(With PTI inputs)