PMO busts Rahul Gandhi's 'paathshala' jibe, says Manmohan visit was part of invite

NEW DELHI: In a major embarrassment for Rahul Gandhi, the prime minister's office busted the Congress vice president's 'paathshaala' quip over Manmohan Singh's meet with PM Narendra Modi, saying it was part of an invite extended to all former PMs.

In document accessed by Times Now, the PMO said the invite was "extended to all former prime ministers, including Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda to discuss policies on first year of the government".

The invite was extended to the former PMs a day before the said meet, the channel said in its report.

Seeking to draw political advantage from Singh’s meeting with successor Narendra Modi on Wednesday, Gandhi described the conversation as a “paathshala” for Modi on how to run the country’s economy.

“Unhone (PM) kaha mujhe kuch samajh nahin aa raha, aap samjhaaiye (He said that he can’t understand what’s happening, so please explain to me),” said Rahul while taking a dig at PM Modi in his brief address at the two-day convention of the National Students Union of India (NSUI).

“After Manmohan ji said that the economy is going down, the prime minister invited him and took an hour-long paathshala (lesson). Perhaps he wanted to understand how to run India’s economy.”

The meeting, which according to Singh’s office took place at Modi’s request, had set tongues wagging with different versions doing the rounds through the day. Further, taking off from his “suitboot” remark, he took a swipe at the PM for running a one-man show that does not celebrate diversity of views within the government.

“One man knows it all. If you ask on farmer issues, only one man knows. Education, only one man knows and even clothes, one man knows.” He then went on to accuse the PM of letting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) meddle in the HRD ministry to the detriment of progressive voices. “RSS is fully involved in the Human Resource Department ministry.