No question of retirement: PM

New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) Into his seventh year in office,
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday ruled out
retirement since his tasks remain "unfinished" but offered to
make way for a younger leader if the Congress party wanted
that.
At a 75-minute press conference, his third in the
capital since he first became the Prime Minister in 2004,
Singh scotched speculation of "mistrust and distrust" between
him and party President Sonia Gandhi, saying that there was
"not an iota of truth" in that.
He was asked whether he would make way for Rahul Gandhi
to take over during his current tenure which will end in 2014
and whether the thought of retirement came to his mind.
In a carefully-crafted response, Singh told over 700
journalists, "I have been given this task (of Prime
Ministership). It is still unfinished. Till I finish the
tasks, there is no question of retirement."
At the same time, he said he himself felt sometimes that
younger people should take over. "As and when, the Congress
party makes that judgement, I will be very happy to make place
for anybody chosen by the party," he said.
At another point, the 77-year-old leader said Rahul
Gandhi was "very qualified" to join his Cabinet and he had
talked to him about it several times but the young leader
wanted to focus more on building the party.
"Whenever he (Rahul) is ready, he would be an
appropriate addition to the Cabinet," the Prime Minister said.
During the press conference that was telecast live
nationwide and that coincided with the completion of one year
of United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-II, Singh answered
questions on a range of issues including price rise, naxalism,
terrorism and relations with Pakistan. (MORE) PTI AKK
MRD


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