Modi defends Rajnath on son row, PMO clears stand
A statement issued by Prime Minsiter's Office (PMO) rubbished all media reports on Rajnath's son Pankaj Singh as "plain lies". It said, "This has reference to reports appearing in a section of the media over the past several weeks, mentioning the Prime Minister, and referring to the conduct of some Union Ministers, and alleged misconduct of the Home Minister's son."
"The reports are plain lies, motivated and constitute a malicious attempt at character assassination and tarnishing the image of the government. Those indulging in such rumour-mongering are damaging the interest of the nation," said the statement. "These reports are strongly denied."
Earlier, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday rubbished the news floating around his son Pankaj Singh after reportedly taking it up with the BJP's ideological patron RSS and at the highest level in the party.
Singh reportedly expressed unhappiness for being targetted by rivals in his party. He denied all allegations cropping up against his family.
Speaking to mediapersons, Rajnath termed all the allegations as baseless. He said, "For past few days, some false allegations are being made against my family. I want to ascertain to my fellow countrymen that, if the allegations are proved true, I will immediately quit politics."
Rajnath termed the allegations as mind games of his political rivals. Home Minister also said that he has discussed this issue with Prime Minister and party's chief, and that both of them stood by him.
The controversy broke after reports floating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ticked off his son Pankaj Singh for alleged political misconduct.
According to media reports, Prime Minister scolded Rajnath's son Pankaj in front of his father in a meeting for taking bribe in lieu of police posting and asked him to return the money, a charge denied by Pankaj.
Though Pankaj Singh's name was bandied about as a candidate for the Noida seat in the UP bypolls, he was overlooked by Modi, the report added.
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