Sheila Dikshit clarifies comment on Manmohan Singh, says it was used out of context

New Delhi, Mar 15: Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has clarified that her comments comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his predecessor Manmohan Singh were taken out of context.

Dikshit later tweeted that her comments had been taken out of context by the media. "Here is what I said - it may seem to some people that Modi is stronger on terror but I think this is a poll gimmick more than anything else," she tweeted. She further added that national security has always been a concern and that "Indira ji [Indira Gandhi] has been a strong leader."

After some media reports suggested that Dikshit praised Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party publicly thanked her. "Thank you Sheila Dikshit ji for reiterating what the nation already knows but the Congress party is never ready to admit," BJP National President Amit Shah tweeted.

However, Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed shock at Dikshit's remark. "This is a shocking remark by Sheila Dikshit ji," he tweeted. Kejriwal claimed there is some understanding between the Congress and BJP in Delhi. "The alliance between the Congress and BJP is out in the open today."

In an interview to be aired on CNN News 18, excerpts of which were released on Thursday, Dikshit was asked about the criticism that the UPA government did not do much after the Mumbai terror attack in 2008. To this, she purportedly said: "Manmohan Singh's... yes, I agree with you wasn't as strong or as determined as he [Modi] is perhaps but then there is also the feeling that he is doing all for politics, not that he wants to, not out of the sense of...".