With just two days to go before the Punjab elections, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has launched a rare and scathing attack on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. The former prime minister lashed out at Modi for still blaming India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for every problem. “The post of prime minister has a special status,” he said.
Manmohan Singh, 69, said the Congress had never divided India for political gain or to hide the truth. In a video message, he said that on the one hand, people are suffering from problems like inflation and unemployment, on the other hand, the current government, despite being in power for the last seven and a half years, has not acknowledged their mistakes and tried to correct them. This government is still blaming the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the suffering of the people.
“I think the post of prime minister has a special significance,” Manmohan Singh said. Instead of blaming history for hiding its own faults, the Prime Minister should retain his dignity. I spoke through my work when I was Prime Minister for 10 years. I have never allowed the country’s dignity to be tarnished in front of the world. I have never tarnished the image of India.
The two-time prime minister has accused the current government of concealing the issue of China’s incursion into the Line of Control (LoC). Dr. Singh said they (the BJP-led government) have no understanding on economic policy. This crisis is not limited to the country. This government has also failed in foreign policy. China is sitting on our border and the government is trying to hide it.
“I hope the prime minister understands that foreign policy cannot be pursued by forcibly embracing the leaders, swinging the cradle or feeding biryani,” he said.
Manmohan Singh has accused the country’s BJP-led government of pursuing “fake nationalist and divisive policies”. He says the current government’s foreign policy has failed.
“We have never divided the country for political gain,” he said. We never tried to hide the truth. We have never tarnished the image of the country or the Prime Minister. Today the people of the country are divided. The fake nationalism of this government is hollow and dangerous. The basis of their nationalism is the British ‘divide and rule’. Constitutional institutions have been weakened.