Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday reserved his sharpest comments for BJP's prime ministerial candidate, saying it will be "disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as prime minister" and that "India does not want such a prime minister."
Addressing the media here Friday, Manmohan Singh said "If by strong prime minister you mean you preside over the massacre of innocents on the streets of Ahmedabad, that is not the kind of strength I will like to have.""Without discussing the merits of Narendra Modi, I sincerely believe that it will be disastrous for the country to have Modi as the PM," Manmohan Singh told journalists at a formal press conference at the National Media Centre.Modi is the Gujarat chief minister and the riots took place in 2002 during his first term. Answering another query, he said that "I sincerely believe what Mr Narendra Modi is saying (about BJP coming to power) is not going to materialise"