Talking to reporters here in Allahabad during the inaugural ceremony of Nehru Gram Bharti University at Kotwa, he clarified his statement given on Tuesday, in which he was reported to have demanded a judicial probe into the incident.

“They (journalists) asked me whether I had demanded any judicial probe into the Batla House encounter. I said I did not make any demand nor did I make any suggestion of a judicial probe into it. I just told them the matter is now with the Prime Minister and I had a talk with him over the issue (encounter and not the judicial probe). In reply to a question if there should be any judicial probe in the matter, I had said it’s a democratic country and it is always better to make things clear. I even refused to disclose the details of my talk with the PM to them. I never said I or the PM was mulling over a judicial probe into it,” Singh said, adding that the media “stretched” the matter unnecessarily.

Repeating his previous statement, he said, “I again say in democracies, it is always better to make things clear.

He refused to say anything when asked if the Congress would field Priyanka Gandhi from Phoolpur seat, the traditional seat of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

“The party has authorised some persons to speak out party’s views and I am certainly not one of them,” he said.