Ravi Shankar Prasad raps Pakistan for sermon on elections

NEW DELHI: Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today condemned the "unwarranted" statement by Pakistan on Gujarat elections, and seemed to suggest that it was aimed at bailing out Congress party.

Prasad said Indians were capable of contesting elections in the country's democracy on their own.

This came after Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted: "India should stop dragging Pakistan into its electoral debate and win victories on own strength rather than fabricated conspiracies, which are utterly baseless and irresponsible".


The tweet came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public rally in Palanpur in Gujarat talked about a purported secret meeting held at suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's home and attended by the Pakistani High Commissioner, an ex-Pakistani foreign minister, a former Vice President of India and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

This meeting, Modi claimed, happened a day before Aiyar called him "neech".

"Today a very curious statement has been released by Pakistan foreign office condemning Pakistan being dragged into India's election and stated that Indians must learn to fight the elections on their own.

"Yes, I wish to tell Pakistan that Indians are capable of contesting... (elections in) India's democracy on their own as they do... India's Prime Minister is a popularly elected PM," Prasad told reporters here.

India, he said, "completely abhors any outside interference in India's electoral affairs."

"The role of Pakistan in promoting terrorism in India is too well known in the entire world. Please stop giving us lessons. We are proud of India's democracy," he said.

"We are very proud of India's democracy and totally condemn this unwarranted statement from Pakistan," he said.

Prasad said it was "curious" that Congress leader Anand Sharma had denied any meeting taking place at the residence of Aiyar.

"And in today's newspapers...It is very evident as to who attended the meeting including from Pakistan and even Manmohan Singh went there in the get-together," he said. "Why a wrong statement was made by Anand Sharma completely denying that any such meeting took place."

"Now it is whose turn to apologise? But what is curious is that this happens and Pakistan comes out with an official statement... in many ways seeking to bail out Congress party. Is it too suspicious? Surely, the country will draw its own conclusion," he added.