Jaswant Singh to reveal spy's name to PM

New Delhi, Jul 24: Stung by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remark on the ''spy in the PMO'' controversy, veteran BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh today said he would reveal the name of the spy to ''the prime minister, not to the nation.'' ''I don't think the prime minister should have used the language he did, questioning my courage and decency. These statements are disappointing and do not befit the office of the prime minister,'' Mr Singh said in an interview to CNN-IBN.

Cut up with Dr Singh's remarks, he said he was disappointed that the prime minister had questioned him in public on the controversy.

Mr Singh said he would seek an appointment with the prime minister and hand him over all the documents on the basis of which he had made the allegation of a spy in the PMO.

''I will speak to him tomorrow and give him the name and letters and all the evidence before me. I have nothing to hide. However, I do n ot believe that it is necessary to reveal the name in public.

No purpose will be served, nor is it advisable. There are certain things that do not need to be revealed in public.''

Mr Singh had made the allegation in his just-published book ''A Call to Honour: In Service of Emergent India'', saying a mole in the PMO during the premiership of Mr P V Narasimha Rao had let secret information on the country's nuclear programme pass out to an external agency. Asked why he had chosen to keep quiet for so long, the BJP leader said, ''This information was based on something that happened before we entered the government. I do not believe that not revealing his name compromised our government or national security in any manner.'' When quizzed why he had felt the necessity to reveal this in a book, Mr Singh, who is Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said, ''Please see my remarks in the context in which they are written. I was writing about India's nuclear tests and the need for complete security ahead of the 1988 tests. The letter explains why secrecy was necessary at the highest level.'' He also maintained that spying was still on. ''I think that the snooping is still on. We've seen arrests involving the US Administration here even now. So, I don't think what I am saying is not borne out by the reality.'' Asked about his observations on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's handling of the communal riots, Mr Singh made it clear that he had not been critical of the state government.

''The Modi government is the best in the country today, it provides the best administration. Yes, the riots were a blot on our image, but I will not blame Mr Modi or his government for the riots.'' On Ayodhya, he said, ''I am critical of the vandalism, but I am a firm believer in the Ram Janambhoomi Movement.'' Maintaining that he was committed to the BJP and its ideology, he said, ''There is no other party for me but the BJP, I completely share its ideology.'' He, however, admitted that he had differences, as expressed in the book, with Mr L K Advani's Jinnah formulation.

''I have said that till 1935, Jinnah was an advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity, but he changed after that. We have differences within a party, that is natural.''

UNI