New Delhi:The Government and Congress yesterday (Dec 11, 2006) rejected BJP-Shiv Sena demand for an apology by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his remarks concerning minorities and charged the Opposition parties with deliberately distorting the statement for electoral gains.

"The distortion shows the anti-Muslim mindset of those parties... It is a sick mentality. They are deliberately misleading the people. This is irresponsible and mischievous," party spokesman Satyavrat Chaturvedi told reporters.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi told reporters separately that the Prime Minister will "never, never make any apology" within or outside Parliament.

Both Dasmunsi and Chaturvedi hit out at the BJP for stalling the proceedings in both Houses of Parliament over Prime Minister's remarks made at the National Development Council (NDC) meeting.

Seeking to elaborate on what the Prime Minister had actually said, they said that Singh had not done anything wrong and had infact underlined the views of the Congress, UPA and the government.

Dismissing charges that the Prime Minister was playing politics with such statements, Dasmunsi said the cap actually fits the BJP.

"If L K Advani feels by carrying bogey of such a campaign, he will become the Prime Minister, he lives in a fools paradise," Dasmunsi said having a dig at the Leader of Opposition who had spoken of his desire to become the Prime Minister.

Opposition is not doing a service to the nation by raking up such controversies, Chaturvedi said.