Singh had a quiet gravitas to Modi’s “charisma and oratory”. His “wispy voice, meek demeanour and complete lack of either political capital or fan-following across India” would not have worked in these days of the pandemic, said a journalist in 2020, soon after Modi rang in the first lockdown with “taali and thali”.But the fact is that UPA 1 and 2 reflected the personality of Manmohan Singh who in one word was “supportive” to Modi’s “assertive.” Singh, to people who knew him, was an embodiment of quiet power, who lay importance to institutions and systems. Manmohan Singh, in his short video address to the people of Punjab, said he would have liked to be in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in these days of elections but couldn’t.He said he found it odd that even after “eight-and-half-years” of rule, the Modi Government was looking to shift the blame of its shortcomings on others.Hitting directly at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singh said the “Prime Minister’s Office has a special stature”, meaning he found it lacking in today’s PM! Contrasting his rule with that of the current incumbent’s, Manmohan Singh that while Modi was attempting to shift blame and escape accountability, he spoke less and remained quiet, instead letting his work speak for him. In his own soft manner, Singh gave Modi a lashing that has been reverberating ever since. Modi’s rebuttal to Manmohan Singh’s trenchant critique of Modi’s speeches inside and outside Parliament came through Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who, true to form, accused Manmohan Singh for doing nothing much to bring the economy out of the mess it allegedly was in during UPA rule. She advised Singh not to try to “pull down India when it is counted as the fastest growing economy” in the world. She said she did not “expect this from you.” (IPA Service)Views are personal
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