PM to retire after polls

Raises a storm as he calls Modi dangerous; says too early to judge AAP

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has finally announced his retirement, declaring that he will not be in the race for the Prime Minister in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He hoped that he will pass on the baton to the Prime Minister to be chosen by the UPA. Praising Rahul Gandhi for his outstanding credentials, he, however, did not name him as the Prime Ministerial candidate, saying that the Congress will take the decision at the appropriate time.

The new generation of leaders will guide the nation successfully through the uncharted and uncertain waters of global change, he remarked. At his fourth media interaction at the fag-end of his 10-year stint here on Friday, a combative Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mounted a frontal assault on BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

In a scathing attack on Modi, which surprisingly even Rahul Gandhi has been avoiding to make, the Prime Minister said, “I sincerely believe that it will be disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as the next Prime Minister.” He went on to add, “If, by strong Prime Minister, you mean that you preside over the mass massacre of innocent citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad that is the measure of strength, I do not think that sort of strength this country needs, least of all in its Prime Minister.”