Congress downplays PM's brother joining BJP, calls it 'non-event'

New Delhi: Dismissing as a "non-event" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's half-brother Daljeet Singh Kohli joining BJP, Congress on Saturday ridiculed the BJP asking whether its "dirty tricks department was still functioning".

"As far as I know he is a non-political person. He never made a political statement in his life. His joining a party is a non-event," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters at the AICC briefing.

When asked about the reported comments of a nephew of Singh that there was a "deal" behind Kohli joining the BJP, Chidambaram said, "it is quite possible. Why should I disbelief that. I think they had set up a dirty tricks department. Is that still functioning?

The Prime Minister today said that he was saddened by the decision of his half-brother Kohli to join BJP.

"I feel very sad. I have no control. They are all adults," he said while replying to queries on the sidelines of the Padma awards function.

Kohli joined BJP on Friday at a public rally in Amritsar in the presence of the party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

The entry of Kohli, a local businessman, into the BJP came a day after the prime minister rejected perceptions of a 'Modi wave' in the country.

Welcoming Kohli into the BJP fold, Modi had said he will further strengthen the party.

PMO sources had said Manmohan Singh's family was "shocked" at the turn of events involving Kohli. "His intentions are not known but he is free to pursue his political career," they had said, adding the prime minister and Kohli have not been keeping in touch since long.

Prime Minister Singh has six sisters while Kohli is his half-brother, the sources said. The prime minister's mother died at an early age.