By IANS,

Thiruvananthapuram : Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh was Saturday criticised by his cabinet colleague Vayalar Ravi, who said the veteran leader's remarks about lack of internal democracy in the Congress were a "colourful lie".

"I have always been observing Arjun Singh at meetings where he is always silent and I really fail to understand what his intentions are and who he is trying to please. Sonia Gandhi has always given us a lot of freedom and Arjun Singh is one leader who enjoys all sorts of powers," Overseas Indian Affairs Minister and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ravi told reporters here.

Arjun Singh, at a book release ceremony in New Delhi Friday, had said: "Today the evaluation of loyalty is done in a very narrow sense. The Nehru-Gandhi family knows who are the real loyalists and those who are pretending to be so."

The HRD minister, whose collection of articles titled "Mohen Kahan Vishram" (No rest for me) was released Friday evening, said he was a person who was opposed to the Emergency in 1975 "because it was misused".

Ravi said the veteran politician's comments had come after 33 long years.

"Was it meant for a ticket? I do not know," he quipped.