Rather than admitting mistakes, BJP govt blaming Nehru for people's problems: Manmohan Singh

Three days before Punjab goes to the polls, former prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched an all-out attack on the Modi government through a video statement.

In a 9.14 minutes long video released on Thursday, Singh touched on everything – from domestic issues to China’s aggression in Ladakh and squarely blamed the Modi government for economic woes.

The BJP had been in power for more than seven years and was still blaming first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the problems of the people, former prime minister and Congress leader Manmohan Singh said on Thursday in a scathing attack against the Modi-led government.

Targeting the Central government on a host of issues, including the farmers' agitation, foreign policy, price rise and unemployment, Singh said ahead of the Punjab elections on February 20 that the BJP's nationalism was based on the British policy of divide and rule.

“People are remembering our (Congress) good work. They (BJP) tried to dishonour Punjab CM & people of the state over PM Modi's security issue. Rich people are getting richer while the poor people are getting poorer.

They (BJP-led govt) have no understanding of economic policy. The issue is not limited to the nation. This government has also failed on foreign policy. China is sitting at our border & efforts are being made to suppress it,” said the former Prime Minister.

Attacking Modi without naming him, Singh said that “relationships do not improve by giving hugs to politicians, or by going to eat biryani without invitation”.

“Their (BJP govt’s) nationalism is based on the British’s divide & rule policy. Constitutional institutions are being weakened,” added Singh.

The Congress played the message delivered in Punjabi at a press conference.

According to Singh, the government had proved to be a complete failure on the issue of foreign policy. The Chinese army, he alleged, was occupying our pious land for the last one year but efforts are being made to bury this issue .

Our relations with neighbouring nations are also deteriorating, Singh said.

He said the government does not have trust in the country's constitution and institutions are continuously being weakened .

Attacking PM Modi on host of issues, Manmohan Singh in Punjabi, “On the one hand, people are facing problems of price rise and unemployment, on the other, the present government which has been in power for the last seven and a half years, rather than admitting their mistakes and making amends, is still blaming first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for being responsible for people's problems.”

Referring to Modi's convoy being stuck on a flyover in Ferozepur Singh said that the saffron party tried to dishonour Punjab CM and the people of the state over PM Modi’s security issue.

“People are remembering our (Congress) good work. They (BJP) tried to dishonour Punjab CM and the people of the state over PM Modi's security issue. Rich people are getting richer while the poor people are getting poorer. During the farmers’ agitation, too, an attempt was made to defame Punjab and Punjabiyat,” said Singh.

The world salutes the bravery, patriotism and sacrifice of Punjabis, but the NDA government did not talk about any of this, Singh said.

As a true Indian hailing from Punjab, all these things deeply hurt me, he added.

Singh said there are many challenges before the people of Punjab and it is very important to deal with them effectively.

It is very important to address the issues of Punjab's development, its farming and unemployment, he said.

And this work can only be done by the Congress, he said as he appealed to the people of Punjab to vote for the Congress.

The Congress leader said he had worked as prime minister for 10 years and had always preferred that his work should speak for itself.

"We never divided the country for political gains. We never tried to put curtains on the truth. Never allowed the country's prestige to be lowered," he said.

At the international level, prestige of India and Indians was enhanced during the Congress-led UPA rule, he said.

With PTI inputs