NEW DELHI: Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Thursday handed over a set of pages from the book 'Inside Story of Sardar Patel: The Diary of Maniben Patel' to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh as he arrived in Parliament for the day's proceedings.
Ramesh presented the Gujarati translation of the transcripts, remarking, "Sir, I have brought you a Gujarati translation of Maniben Patel's diary, especially for you. Please do read it."
Singh, responding with a light smile, said, "I don't know Gujarati", while taking the pages with him.
The exchange comes just days after the Congress party, on December 6, released excerpts from the book by Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter, Maniben Patel, to counter Singh's statement that Jawaharlal Nehru had wanted to build the Babri Masjid with public funds. The party has demanded that the Defence Minister apologise for what it calls "falsehoods".