New Delhi, July 15 -- A claim by former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi that then prime minister Manmohan Singh told him, "If that is what you think, I will commit suicide," after being confronted over Congress leaders' attacks on the Election Commission of India (ECI) has become the most politically explosive revelation in Quraishi's forthcoming book, "India and I: A Hundred Memories, Not a Memoir". The anecdote, contained in a chapter titled "The Day the Prime Minister Said the Unthinkable", revisits the bitter confrontation between ECI and the Congress during the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections after the poll panel censured then Union law minister Salman Khurshid for promising enhanced reservation for Muslims during the campaign. According to Quraishi, he met Singh to complain that senior Congress leaders were repeatedly attacking ECI instead of respecting its constitutional authority. The former CEC writes that a visibly distressed Singh denied having authorised such criticism, saying he would have "blasted" the ministers had he known. He then allegedly remarked, "If that is what you think, I will commit suicide," while describing ECI as "the soul of our democracy". The disclosure triggered an immediate political response, with BJP IT department head Amit Malviya citing the episode to attack the Congress. Posting on X, Malviya said questioning the neutrality of ECI had long been part of the Congress's political strategy. "When the UPA was in power, its ministers repeatedly targeted the Election Commission whenever they were pulled up for violating the Model Code of Conduct," he wrote, referring to the 2012 controversy involving Khurshid's quota promise. "Former CEC SY Quraishi has revealed that prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh later told him he would 'commit suicide' over the irresponsible remarks of his own ministers. That episode spoke volumes about the state of the government, a PM unable to rein in his own colleagues while constitutional institutions were being attacked," he wrote. He added that "the Congress playbook has remained unchanged: when in power, it sought to browbeat the Election Commission; when out of power, it seeks to discredit the institution whenever electoral outcomes don't suit it." Congress national secretary Pranav Jha said the BJP's attempt to resurrect a 2012 episode was just a distraction from the serious questions being raised today. "Selective anecdotes and hearsay cannot be equated with the present concerns regarding the integrity of the electoral process, transparency in decision-making, and the need to preserve public confidence in democratic institutions," Jha said. He added that his party has always respected EC as one of the foundational pillars of India's constitutional democracy. The book, to be published by Hachette India, contains 100 episodes from Quraishi's decades-long career in the Indian Administrative Service and later as India's 17th Chief Election Commissioner. Instead of a conventional autobiography, it presents independent accounts of key moments involving elections, governance and public life....