PM denies being a British informer

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday denied Congress allegations that he was a British informer during the 1942 Quit India Movement.

"I was arrested as a student. I had just finished my high school in Gwalior and joined the Quit India Movement. My family thought I would be arrested and sent me to my village, Bateshwar," he said at an election rally after welcoming Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani's 'Bharat Uday Yatra' in Lucknow.

"The movement had spread even there. I was ready to face it [the case] but there was no evidence against me. I was not an informer.

"Would I have been able to face you had I committed the shameful act? I would have renounced everything and left.

"There is a limit to character assassination for winning election. They have crossed all the limits.

"One should maintain dignity and decorum. Whoever crosses the limit is wrong," he said.

Elections were temporary, "but life is long and we can change the country's destiny if we work together", he added.