I will stay the course: PM

NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday said he had never felt like resigning because he had a job to do and there was a lot of unfinished business.

“I have never felt like quitting, I will stay the course,” the prime minister said during a media interaction at 7, Race Course Road, his official residence.

“I never felt like resigning because I had a job to do,” Manmohan Singh said in response to a question on whether he felt like quitting over the many allegations of corruption against his government.

He added that he had “never thought of giving up half way”.

The country voted our party to be the leader of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) coalition and we have a lot of unfinished business to accomplish, he added.

The second five-year term of the UPA, called UPA-II, began on 2009 and is going to enter its half-year mark later this year.

The prime minister also said that he was not afraid of appearing before any committee, including a joint parliamentary committee (JPC).

I am not afraid of appearing before any committee. The PAC (Public Accounts Committee) is the giant parliamentary committee presided over by a senior member of the opposition. I have declared that I am willing to appear before the PAC, so I am not afraid to appear before any committee, including a JPC , he added in his interaction that lasted for over an hour.

And this is wrong impression that I was blocking the agreement about the the JPC because I don’t want to appear before theJPC. I have said that as PM my conduct should be like Caesar’s wife, above suspicion and am prepared to appear before any committee, he stressed.

“In a coalition government, there is a coalition dharma. Things are not entirely the way I would like them to be…,” he stated.

The prime minister, in response to a question, also said it was too early to speculate on the next prime minister as there was still a “long way to go” before the next election scheduled for 2014.