Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that BJP leader L K Advani had called him up on May 16, the day the results of the Lok Sabha elections were announced, and they exchanged apologies for the personal comments made during the campaign.

“Well I was compelled to reply (to the allegations) and I did say a few things (during the campaign) which Advaniji said had hurt him. Then he rang me up on May 16 and he expressed regret. In exchange, I apologised to him if I had said anything to hurt his feelings. I look forward to a close relationship with the leader of the opposition,” he told the media on board the PM’s special aircraft on Wednesday. Singh on his way back from Yekaterinburg.

Advani, busy settling in-house problems in the BJP before the party meets for a two-day national executive on June 20, confirmed to The Indian Express that the interactions between the two leaders after the declaration of the election results were “cordial”.

While the BJP—and Advani—had repeatedly called Manmohan a “weak leader” through the election campaign, the PM hit back at Advani on March 24, questioning his track-record saying “it included playing a prominent role in Babri demolition and 2002 Gujarat riots.” Advani was then believed to have told his associates that while he had raised questions over the devaluation of the Prime Minister’s Office, Manmohan Singh chose to launch a personal campaign.

Putting behind an acrimonious campaign, both leaders, however, stressed on a new beginning on Wednesday. The BJP also backed the government on talks with Pakistan. BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that India and Pakistan should hold talks “in the spirit of the Vajpayee-Musharraf accord, signed in January 2004”. “The (UPA) government should follow the Vajpayee-Musharraf agreement as a guiding light,” said Naqvi, adding that “it must also be ensured that Pakistan doesn’t allow its soil to be used for anti-India terror, as outlined in the pact”.

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