I am not a sycophant, says Arjun Singh

New Delhi: Embroiled in a controversy on the loyalty issue, HRD Minister Arjun Singh on Monday asserted that he was not a sycophant even as he alleged off-the-record briefings have been institutionalised in the party.

"Whether somebody agrees to it or not, I think the AICC knows that I am not a sycophant," Singh told to a news channel.

Singh, who was reacting to a question on the recent AICC statement that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi kept away from sycophancy, said, "I don't even know whether those remarks were for me or not. Those remarks must be for someone else."

Asked if the controversy surrounding him was due to his opponents in the party or the trend of off-the-record briefings, he claimed: "Off-the-record briefings have been institutionalised and I am neither bothered nor am I interested to know who all are doing it."

However, the senior leader rejected the view that there was any tension between him and the Congress high command and said that contrary to reports, greetings were exchanged between him and the party President at a function.

"Never felt it for a moment. That's all I can say. I never felt it. No, certainly they (greetings) were exchanged. But you don't exchange courtesy and give it to the press," Singh said.

The HRD Minister was responding to a question on whether there were strains or tension between him and Gandhi and whether he was given the cold shoulder by her at a public function on Saturday.

The function was the convocation ceremony of the Jamia Hamdard University and it was the first time the two leaders had come face to face since the controversy over the loyalty issue erupted.

To a query on whether there was any tension between him and Gandhi, he said, "Absolutely not." Singh also denied Gandhi had asked him to give up HRD Ministry and take up some other charge, saying, "She never spoke to me about it. Never."

On whether he felt annoyed with the episode, Singh said, "I have gone through all these things perhaps in a slightly worse scenario. It has not shaken me from my path and believe this also will not."

Asked how he saw his future, he asserted he was not a "terrorist" in politics. "Only conviction guides my direction. What my conviction is, the world knows," Singh said.