Former PM Manmohan Singh lashes out at Modi government

Kochi: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday said that  the three-and-a-half-year rule by the BJP-led NDA alliance headed by Mr Narendra Modi had  proved to be a complete failure in all areas of governance. Addressing the  ‘Padayorukkam’ rally in Kochi, Dr Singh listed out a series of failures by the Modi government and termed  demonetisation as a  ‘historic blunder.’  “Within  three-and-a-half years, the  BJP government at the centre which came to power making tall promises has failed to implement  any of them,”  Dr Singh said.

Recalling the promise made by Mr Modi of bringing back all the black money and depositing Rs 15 lakh into the account of each citizen, he  said that nowadays “the people of India ask what the Indian  citizen has gained from the BJP rule?” “The prices of essential commodities are going up. Unemployment is increasing. The promise of creating one crore jobs every year has proved to be hollow,”  he  said.  He came down heavily on demonetisation and the haphazard manner in which the goods and services tax system has been implemented.  

The two decisions were responsible for pulling down the GDP growth to 5.7 percent in 2017-18 from 7.2 percent in 2016-17.   “Modi  said demonetisation was meant to unearth black money, curb terrorism and  check the flow of fake currency from Pakistan.   But what have the people of India gained from this adventure except to be fresh recipients of hardships,”  he said.     He  also listed out the achievements of the Congress rule during the past  years in the country.