Modi will be disastrous for country as PM: Manmohan
dy asked me to step down a...
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NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday signed off on his two-term tenure in office by lashing out at Narendra Modi, saying that it will be "disastrous for the country" to have him as Prime Minister and that Modi's record of presiding over a mass massacremade him totally unsuitable for the top job.
Confirming TOI's report last week that he would call a press conference on January 3 to announce his decision not to seek a third term, Singh said, "In a few months, after the general elections, I will hand the baton over to a new Prime Minister. I hope it will be a UPA chosen Prime Minister."
This comes less than a year after he'd indicated that he might not be averse to the idea of another term - although more recently, in September, he'd said Rahul Gandhi would be "ideal for the PM's post after the 2014 elections" and that he would be "happy to work under him". Political analysts believe Singh's decision to rule himself out may have been brought about by the Congress' disastrous performance in the last round of state elections coupled with Rahul's readiness to take charge.
His comment that the "next generation of leaders" would "guide the nation" sparked the inevitable question about Rahul being named as PM candidate, but he half-addressed it by saying, "Rahul Gandhi hasoutstanding credentials to be nominated for PM, and I hope the party will take that decision at the appropriate time." The PM's decision to stand down is bound to further fuel the demand for Rahul's formal anointment.
At what could be his last national press conference, Singh reacted sharply to BJP's charge of being a weak PM saying: "But if by a 'strong prime minister' you mean that you preside over a mass massacre of innocent citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad, (and) that is the measure of strength, I do not believe that sort of strength this country needs, least of all in its Prime Minister."
Looking to return fire with Modi repeatedly hitting out at him and the Congress leadership, Singh said "Without discussing the merits of Narendra Modi, I sincerely believe that it will be disastrous for the country to have Modi as the PM." He asserted that he did not think Modi's call for a "Congress-free India" would be realized.
Singh's choice of uncharacteristically harsh language could not have been unplanned, and was in fact the latest in a series of escalating attacks on Modi; but it may have had the unintended consequence of bringing the BJP's PM candidate back on the front pages, and on prime time, after weeks of playing second fiddle to Arvind Kejriwal in terms of face-time on media.
For a man known for two qualities - at a personal level, his probity, and professionally, his knowledge of economics - his tenure has been marked by multiple corruption scandals and economic mismanagement. While acknowledging that price rise and charges of graft had hurt the Congress at the polls, he shifted the blame, as he has many times in the past, on to everyone else - CAG, the media and the opposition for exaggerating the scale of the scams, and the international situation for the price rise. He repeated something he has said before: "I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than contemporary media. I have done the best I could under the circumstances."
He invoked a logic to minimize the scams under UPA that was questioned immediately by the BJP. He said, "Coal block and 2G spectrum allocations were in the era of UPA-1. We went to the electorate on the basis of our performance in that period and the people gave us the mandate for another five years...the people do not seem to have paid heed to charges of corruption." BJP leaderArun Jaitley responded by saying that by Singh's own logic, Modi could not be criticized as he has won three elections after the 2002 Gujarat riots.
For the first time, Singh publicly acknowledged that his "best moment" as PM was the nuclear deal with the US in 2008. He had in a rare moment of boldness staked the future of UPA-1 on the deal and those close to him knew he thought of it as the crowning glory of his tenure - although the benefits of that agreement have since come into question. Asked if the bitterness over the US' mistreatment of diplomat Devyani Khobragade threatened to affect ties, he played down the severity of the situation by saying, "These are temporary aberrations and diplomacy should be given a chance."
Asked if he had ever thought of resigning because of the corruption charges against the government (and what was widely seen as public humiliation by Rahul Gandhi over the ordinance to protect criminal MPs and MLAs), Singh said, "I have never felt like resigning at any time. I have enjoyed doing my work. I have tried to do my work with all honesty, all sense of integrity, without regard for fear or favour." Asked if it was ever suggested that he quit, he said, "Nobody has asked me to step down because of any inadequacies as PM."
He dismissed speculation that he might quit ahead of elections and said there was still unfinished agenda: "We would like to revive the growth impulse in the economy." Echoing what Rahul had said a few days ago, he said, "We would like to have the anti-corruption bills passed in Parliament as also the women's reservation bill."
The reaction to the PM's press conference was less than adulatory. The turning tide of public sentiment against Singh seemed to have found voice in the aggressive questions that were asked of Singh through the 75-minute interaction with the media.
Unlike his sharp barbs at Modi, Singh spoke in general terms on other issues. He did not offer many clues as to how he would use the slog overs ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to check price rise. Asked about the possibility of raising the ceiling on the number of subsidised cooking gas cylinders, the PM said no such decision had yet been taken.
The lack of specific steps on curbing inflation is likely to disappoint Congress as the party would have hoped for a strong signal on the government's commitment to tackle an adverse political situation and counter the perception that UPA is a sinking ship.
On inflation, Singh said high energy and commodity prices made price rise difficult to control; similarly, while referring to the slowdown in growth, the PM claimed global conditions were a constraint, in addition to domestic issues in infrastructure such as green clearances.
The PM said he did not think the "diarchy" of power between him and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had been lopsided or had hurt the government. He said Sonia's backing had helped him deal with complex issues at various stages of his premiership.
Asked is he'd had to make political compromises as PM and if he was demitting office on a much more muted note than when he ended his term as finance minister, Singh said he would count running coalitions as an achievement. He said the compromises had been peripheral.
He said he had not given enough thought to his regrets, but wished he could have done more for the healthcare of women and children.
On foreign policy, Singh said he had worked to ensure stable relations with all powers. He said he had hoped to better ties with Pakistan and the fact that Gen Pervez Musharraf was forced to quit had upset a peace effort that was close to fruition.
Confirming TOI's report last week that he would call a press conference on January 3 to announce his decision not to seek a third term, Singh said, "In a few months, after the general elections, I will hand the baton over to a new Prime Minister. I hope it will be a UPA chosen Prime Minister."
This comes less than a year after he'd indicated that he might not be averse to the idea of another term - although more recently, in September, he'd said Rahul Gandhi would be "ideal for the PM's post after the 2014 elections" and that he would be "happy to work under him". Political analysts believe Singh's decision to rule himself out may have been brought about by the Congress' disastrous performance in the last round of state elections coupled with Rahul's readiness to take charge.
His comment that the "next generation of leaders" would "guide the nation" sparked the inevitable question about Rahul being named as PM candidate, but he half-addressed it by saying, "Rahul Gandhi hasoutstanding credentials to be nominated for PM, and I hope the party will take that decision at the appropriate time." The PM's decision to stand down is bound to further fuel the demand for Rahul's formal anointment.
At what could be his last national press conference, Singh reacted sharply to BJP's charge of being a weak PM saying: "But if by a 'strong prime minister' you mean that you preside over a mass massacre of innocent citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad, (and) that is the measure of strength, I do not believe that sort of strength this country needs, least of all in its Prime Minister."
Looking to return fire with Modi repeatedly hitting out at him and the Congress leadership, Singh said "Without discussing the merits of Narendra Modi, I sincerely believe that it will be disastrous for the country to have Modi as the PM." He asserted that he did not think Modi's call for a "Congress-free India" would be realized.
Singh's choice of uncharacteristically harsh language could not have been unplanned, and was in fact the latest in a series of escalating attacks on Modi; but it may have had the unintended consequence of bringing the BJP's PM candidate back on the front pages, and on prime time, after weeks of playing second fiddle to Arvind Kejriwal in terms of face-time on media.
For a man known for two qualities - at a personal level, his probity, and professionally, his knowledge of economics - his tenure has been marked by multiple corruption scandals and economic mismanagement. While acknowledging that price rise and charges of graft had hurt the Congress at the polls, he shifted the blame, as he has many times in the past, on to everyone else - CAG, the media and the opposition for exaggerating the scale of the scams, and the international situation for the price rise. He repeated something he has said before: "I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than contemporary media. I have done the best I could under the circumstances."
He invoked a logic to minimize the scams under UPA that was questioned immediately by the BJP. He said, "Coal block and 2G spectrum allocations were in the era of UPA-1. We went to the electorate on the basis of our performance in that period and the people gave us the mandate for another five years...the people do not seem to have paid heed to charges of corruption." BJP leaderArun Jaitley responded by saying that by Singh's own logic, Modi could not be criticized as he has won three elections after the 2002 Gujarat riots.
For the first time, Singh publicly acknowledged that his "best moment" as PM was the nuclear deal with the US in 2008. He had in a rare moment of boldness staked the future of UPA-1 on the deal and those close to him knew he thought of it as the crowning glory of his tenure - although the benefits of that agreement have since come into question. Asked if the bitterness over the US' mistreatment of diplomat Devyani Khobragade threatened to affect ties, he played down the severity of the situation by saying, "These are temporary aberrations and diplomacy should be given a chance."
Asked if he had ever thought of resigning because of the corruption charges against the government (and what was widely seen as public humiliation by Rahul Gandhi over the ordinance to protect criminal MPs and MLAs), Singh said, "I have never felt like resigning at any time. I have enjoyed doing my work. I have tried to do my work with all honesty, all sense of integrity, without regard for fear or favour." Asked if it was ever suggested that he quit, he said, "Nobody has asked me to step down because of any inadequacies as PM."
He dismissed speculation that he might quit ahead of elections and said there was still unfinished agenda: "We would like to revive the growth impulse in the economy." Echoing what Rahul had said a few days ago, he said, "We would like to have the anti-corruption bills passed in Parliament as also the women's reservation bill."
The reaction to the PM's press conference was less than adulatory. The turning tide of public sentiment against Singh seemed to have found voice in the aggressive questions that were asked of Singh through the 75-minute interaction with the media.
Unlike his sharp barbs at Modi, Singh spoke in general terms on other issues. He did not offer many clues as to how he would use the slog overs ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to check price rise. Asked about the possibility of raising the ceiling on the number of subsidised cooking gas cylinders, the PM said no such decision had yet been taken.
The lack of specific steps on curbing inflation is likely to disappoint Congress as the party would have hoped for a strong signal on the government's commitment to tackle an adverse political situation and counter the perception that UPA is a sinking ship.
On inflation, Singh said high energy and commodity prices made price rise difficult to control; similarly, while referring to the slowdown in growth, the PM claimed global conditions were a constraint, in addition to domestic issues in infrastructure such as green clearances.
The PM said he did not think the "diarchy" of power between him and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had been lopsided or had hurt the government. He said Sonia's backing had helped him deal with complex issues at various stages of his premiership.
Asked is he'd had to make political compromises as PM and if he was demitting office on a much more muted note than when he ended his term as finance minister, Singh said he would count running coalitions as an achievement. He said the compromises had been peripheral.
He said he had not given enough thought to his regrets, but wished he could have done more for the healthcare of women and children.
On foreign policy, Singh said he had worked to ensure stable relations with all powers. He said he had hoped to better ties with Pakistan and the fact that Gen Pervez Musharraf was forced to quit had upset a peace effort that was close to fruition.
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