Manmohan on Modi: “It doesn’t behove a Prime Minister to stoop so low”

Former Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh addressed the media in Bengaluru on Monday, and appealed to Karnataka voters to support the Congress party.

Manmohan Singh said the nation today is experiencing difficult times, with farmers facing an acute crisis, aspirational youth not finding opportunities, and the economy growing below its potential. The unfortunate truth is that each of these crises was entirely avoidable, said the former PM.

While answering a reporter’s query if PM Narendra Modi’s personal attacks during the election campaign in Karnataka had lowered the dignity of PMO, Manmohan Singh said “Don’t use Prime Minister’s Office for the kind of language that you have been using against your political opponents in election campaigns. I do say it with great sadness that office of the Prime Minister should not be used to use the type of language and remarks that Prime Minister Modi ji is making in the election times.”

Singh said further said: “No Prime Minister in our country has used the office of Prime Minister to say things about his (political) opponents that Mr. Modi has been using day in and day out. It doesn’t behove a Prime Minister to stoop so low and it does not augur well for our country as a whole as well.”

"PM Modi should practice the advice he gave me," he said, adding that "unfortunately, he (Modi) hasn’t held a single press conference in four years."

Earlier, he said that the economic management of Modi government was slowly eroding the trust of the general public in the banking system. “Recent incidents which resulted in shortage of cash in many states were preventable,” he said.

Commenting on the issue of Nirav Modi, he said: “it was obvious that in 2015-16, that something is going around with the affairs of Modi. Yet the Modi government didn't do anything. If blame has to be cast, it has to be on the government of the day.”

Main points from Manmohan Singh’s statement on Modi Government failures

• Those tasked with decision-making [must] pay careful attention to policies and programmes and not act on mere whims and fancies
• India is a complex and diverse country and no one person can be the repository of all wisdom
• ‘Intentions’ of the Modi government, while claimed to be good, have resulted in massive losses for our country
• UPA delivered an average growth rate of 7.8% despite turbulent global conditions
• NDA, on the other hand, has managed lesser growth rate despite a favourable international climate and low oil prices
• Growth rate under the NDA is lower in spite of the change in methodology, which paints a rosier picture than reality
• Two major avoidable blunders of the Modi government have been demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST
• The losses the economy suffered due to these blunders have severely hurt our MSME sector and have resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs
• Exports as a share of GDP have plunged to a 14 year low... at a time when the global economy is reviving
• Petrol and diesel prices are at a historic high... in spite of lower international crude oil prices because the Modi Government chooses to levy excessive excise taxes
• Instead of passing on the benefits of low prices to the people, the Modi government has punished the people
• The proportion of gross Non Performing Assets (NPAs) have trebled since we demitted office
• Quantum of frauds in the banking sector has almost quadrupled from Rs 28,416 crore in September 2013 to Rs 1.11 lakh crores in September 2017
• The economic mismanagement of the Modi government is slowly eroding the trust of the general public in the banking sector
• Write-offs to corporate houses have exponentially increased [while] unpayable agricultural loans due to heightened rural distress are not being waived. In three years, over 2.41 lakh crore crores worth of loans have been written off by public sector banks
• When asked to explain reasons for economic ills of the last four years, Prime Minister Modi ji tends to blame everything on the 70 years of the Congress rules. He forgets to mention that policies of UPA I & II led to lifting 140 million people above the poverty line during 2004-2014

Manmohan Singh on Congress government in Karnataka and Siddaramaiah’s achievements

• Congress government in Karnataka under Sri Siddaramaiah has transformed the way urban infrastructure is constructed
• Metro connectivity has improved substantially
• The state government’s offer to bear 80% of the costs has helped kickstart the Suburban Rail project
• In spite of massive pressures due to growth in population and vehicles, the Karnataka government has brought about a tangible change to the lives of citizens of Bengaluru.
• Youth come to Bengaluru for its vibrant and open environment where entrepreneurship is thriving
• Siddaramaiah government’s support for industry has made Karnataka the highest in translating investment intentions into reality, more than Gujarat or any other state
• Karnataka’s track record is in total contrast to the Indian record on job creation
• Karnataka was the first to announce a dedicated Start-Up policy
• This response to a dynamic environment is helps Bengaluru contribute $50 billion to India’s export basket
• Reduced budgets, administrative takeovers, and harassment of students and dissenting voices are a violation of our Constitutional norms
• It does not help that the Ministers in PM Modi ji’s cabinet and even BJP Chief Ministers regularly make comments promoting irrationality. It thus comes as no surprise when irrational policies hurting people are implemented