It was a ‘strictly personal’ and private affair, as former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur on Sunday attended the launch of their daughter Daman Singh’s biography of them in Delhi, entitled Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan. Ms. Singh, who wrote the book over the past three years, based the work on interviews with Dr. Singh and his wife while he was Prime Minister, dealing with his work as an economist, surprise over Indira Gandhi’s announcement of Emergency, as well as working with former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao on economic liberalisation. However, it ends in 2004, and gives absolutely no account of his relationship with the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

At the launch, Dr. Singh posed for photographs, but refused to answer questions saying, “I would not like to comment on someone else’s book.” Ms. Singh also declined to confirm or deny that Dr. Singh would write his own memoirs.

PTI reports: Dr. Singh, who is under fire from the former CAG Vinod Rai over the 2G spectrum scam and Coalgate, said he had done his “duty” and refused to respond to charges levelled against him. “I, indeed, did my duty,” he said.

Interestingly, Ms. Singh also skirted questions about the ex-CAG’s comments. “Actually, I do not know anything about that. So I cannot comment. I have no idea about that. I have not heard what they have said,” she said.

The function was attended among others by the former Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the former Minister Shashi Tharoor.