Bengaluru: After Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Janata Dal(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda for an "informal" discussion over a cup of tea.
"My secretary got a call from the Prime Minister's Office a few days back. The message was that Mr Modi wants to meet me ... he has invited me for a cup of tea," Gowda told reporters here.
Gowda said since he is unwell, he would visit Delhi to meet Modi on either June 3 or June 4.
Asked what would be discussued during the meeting, Gowda said there is no agenda and they would have an informal chat. "There is no agenda but will have an informal chat. He wants to have tea with me," he added.
However, Gowda said, if need be, he would share his experience of being Prime Minister with Modi. "I am not an expert but whatever experience of ten months of being Prime Minister, I will share with the Prime Minister," he added.
Asked for his reaction to the Prime Minister's gesture, Gowda said it shows his good intentions to spend some time with ex-Prime Ministers.
"It shows his good intention to spend time with two former Prime Ministers - one is Manmohan and the other is me, who is a farmer," he said.
The gesture also shows that Modi gives respect to former Prime Ministers, Gowda said....the way he tries to give respect, even though I was Prime Minister for only ten months, feels good," he added.
On Rahul Gandhi's comments on Singh-Modi meeting, Gowda said nobody should undermine the office of the Prime Minister as Modi is the Prime Minister of the country.
"I am sorry some of the words he (Gandhi) expressed, I am not in favour of that. He is the Prime Minister of the nation, not of one political party - BJP. In my humble opinion, I always respect ... We should not undermine the office of the Prime Minister," he said.
Gandhi had yesterday had a dig at Modi after his meeting with Singh.
"Mannmohan Singh said economy is going down. After that the Prime Minister took classes (paathshaala) from Manmohan Singh for one hour. He tried to understand how economy is run as he is not being able to understand it. May be Manmohan Singh made him understand it. I will ask him," he had said.
