Bangalore: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao today (Jul 27, 2004) said he would come out with a "separate book" on the demolition of the Babri Masjid, an issue that rocked the nation in one of its turbulent chapters while he held office.

"I have written a separate book on that. That book will come out. I will come out with a separate book on that," Rao told reporters on the sidelines of a function but did not say when it would be released.

Rao said in his speech at an interaction with intellectuals on his book "The Insider", whose Kannada version would be released in Bangalore tomorrow (Jul 27, 2004), that the second volume would contain "all the controversies raised in the 1970s and 1980s".

Asked later why he had skipped the 1990s, which saw one of the "controversial periods" in his public life, Rao said there was "no controversy in the 90s". Reminded that the Babri Masjid demolition took place then, he said, "I have written a separate book on that".

He said that the second volume of "The Insider" would be released in five or six months.

Asked if the Prime Minister should also be the Congress president, Rao recalled that he himself had held both the posts discharging dual responsibilities and "how can I say anything against it". He, however added, there was "no principle involved (in it)", indicating it could be either way.

Asked what advice he would give to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Rao counter posed with a smile, "What is my opinion about my own Finance Minister?" Singh was Finance Minister during Rao's Prime Ministership that saw unleashing of liberalisation.

To a query, Rao however declined to offer comments on the direction globalisation was taking now in the country.

Earlier, during the interaction, replying to a query, Rao ruled out penning an autobiography. "Whose autobiography. Who are you... less than a speck. The biography is of a nation. You come and go," he said, as he spoke passionately about his book "The Insider".

The second volume, he said, would contain "all the controversies raised in the 1970s and 1980s". "It is a biography of the country. It is the life of the people. As an individual, I don't count for anything at all".

Rao said a girl had offered to make a documentary film on him but he did not accept the idea. "Nobody is going to watch it unless you create lies". He said he told her, "I don't have anything worth a separate documentary". He said in "The Insider", he had written "everything I have seen, everything I have felt". There is something that comes from the heart. I have not copied anyone. I have not parodied anyone. I have not criticised anyone".

Rao also stressed the need to accumulate knowledge to serve the people.

To a query by eminent space scientist and former Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Prof U R Rao, he said, "Education is still my first love."