PM stonewalls queries on graft, leadership issues

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday stonewalled a number of questions by repeatedly saying that "history" will judge him in much kinder way and that his government will come out unscathed.

Consistently downplaying corruption charges levelled against his government, Singh, at the press conference, third in last nearly ten years of his Prime Ministership, said "I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or for that matter the Opposition in Parliament."

Questioned about the 2G scam and irregularities in allocation of coal mines, he said, "Opposition has vested interests. Sometimes the media plays into their hands. When history is written we will come out unscathed...."

On the criticism that he was a weak Prime Minister, Singh said "...I have done as well as I could do according to the circumstances...It is for history to judge what I have done or what I have not done."

Later, Singh was criticised by BJP for "overusing" the "history" word in response to corruption charges.