New Delhi: Even as he maintained that history would be kinder to him than contemporary media, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday failed to put up a strong defence against the charges of corruption levelled at his government.
He said that the coal scam and 2G spectrum licence allegations pertained to his first tenure, 2004-09 and, despite that, people still handed the UPA coalition a second tenure, suggesting that it was not as big an issue as made out to be by the Opposition and the media.
“They (voters) do not seem to have paid heed to the charges of corruption,” Dr Singh insisted, ignoring the fact that these scams had been unearthed only after the 2009 elections.
Interacting with the media here for the second time during UPA-2, Dr Singh consistently downplayed the corruption charges levelled against his government and said, “I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or, for that matter, the Opposition in Parliament.”
Dr Singh said, “The Opposition had vested interests and media, the CAG and other entities played on it for some time... When history is written, we will come out unscathed.” He said that he had taken action to deal with the charges and stressed that “any wrongdoing in government decisions will be punished”.
The PM, however, conceded that corruption was an issue and the AAP led by Arvind Kejriwal has been able to “make a success out of their concerns for eradication of corruption”.
Refusing to buy the argument that he did not assert himself enough when his colleagues made controversial decisions, which resulted in the levelling of corruption charges, Dr Singh said, “I was the one who insisted spectrum allocation should be transparent and fair... Coal block allocation should be on auction basis... There were irregularities, but dimensions of the irregularities were overstated by the media and the CAG.” Having served almost 10 uninterrupted years, Dr Singh said he felt dealing with corruption was not easy.
Next: I am out, Rahul outstanding, Modi disastrous, says PM
I am out, Rahul outstanding, Modi disastrous: PM
New Delhi: Announcing the decision to hang up his boots after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said in a stinging remark that Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will prove “disastrous” for the country if he becomes PM.
The PM also endorsed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for the top job. Putting at rest speculation about the leadership issue in the Congress ahead of the general election, Dr Singh, in his opening remarks at a rare press conference here, said, “I will hand over the baton to a new Prime Minister,” making it clear he would no longer be in the run for the country’s top job after he completes 10 years as Prime Minister in May.
Answering a number of questions at a 75-minutes interaction with the media in which most of the posers pertained to his own assessment of his tenure, the Prime Minister said, “It is my belief that history would be kinder to me than the contemporary media or the Oppo-sition.”
However, when pointedly asked how he takes the “weak Prime Minister” snipe at him, Dr Singh, in his monumental best, attacked the BJP and its leadership for calling him “weak”.
“If by strong PM you mean that you preside over a mass massacre of innocent citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad, if that is the measure of strength, I do not believe this country needs such a strength in its PM,” he retorted, adding that he sincerely believed that it will be “disastrous for the country to have Nare-ndra Modi as Prime Minister”. He also ridiculed Mr Modi’s campaign for a “Congress-free” India, saying that it would not materialise.
Noting that his successor would be from the UPA, Dr Singh endorsed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi by stating that the young leader “has outstanding credentials to be the Prime Ministerial candidate”.
Next: PM ambivalent of his future
PM ambivalent of his future
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday that the Congress would announce the candidate at the appropriate time.
Though Dr Singh made it amply clear that he was not going to be in the race for the top job after the general election, he remained ambivalent over his future plans, saying, “I have not thought this through.”
Rejecting the suggestion that “dual power centres” in the UPA had affected his ability to deliver, Dr Singh said, “I sincerely believe that the arrangement, where the Congress president and the Prime Minister did not happen to be same person, has under the circumstances worked exceedingly well.”
He added: “For me, it was a remarkable achievement that I have been able to complete 10 years without any hiccups between the Prime Minister and Congress president. Sonia Gandhi’s support has been enormous. She was there to back me, which facilitated my task in more than one way.”
Asked about the perception that decisions were taken in 10, Janpath, a reference to Mrs Gandhi’s house, Dr Singh said, “It is not a question of Congress president or the vice-president.
If they have any view, it ought to be reflected in the government to the extent possible. It is not a disadvantage or a drawback in our system. This has enabled us to deal with many issues.” He added, “If the government recognised issues, I don’t think it is right to say that this is wrong or it is a disadvantage to make corrections if the party leadership says it is required in national interest.”
The Prime Minister began his interaction by conceding that price-rise could have been one of the factors in the defeat of the Congress in the recent Assembly elections. “Price-rise was a factor in the people turning against Congress. The reasons for it were beyond our control as the prices of international commodities were rising, making it difficult for us to control prices. But we have taken enough measures to protect the weaker sections. That should not be lost.”
When asked about his views on the success of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi Assembly elections, Dr Singh said, “The people of India have reposed confidence in the AAP. I think we must respect the democratic process. Only time will tell whether this experience is capable of dealing with the challenges that our economy and our polity face. It is too early — they have been there only less than a week — they must be given time and a chance to justify themselves.”
