Over the years, Congress party has been trying to create an image of ‘an incorruptible’ person for Ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which is ironic since Manmohan Singh led India through one of its most corrupt eras. When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister of India, corruption had become the order of the day and policy paralysis, the way of functioning of the government.
It is not that Manmohan Singh is a bad man, he was the finance minister of the country when India’s economy was liberalized, and its doors were opened for the world. But Manmohan Singh chose to squander all his goodwill to remain in the good books of the first family of Indian Politics. As a PM< Manmohan Singh also infamous for keeping mum which earned him the moniker of ‘Maunmohan Singh’. But these days Manmohan is talkative man. From Savarkar to Economy, he has an opinion on everything. In fact, a full-blown war of words has erupted between him and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman with each pinning the blame for the economic downturn on the other.
Manmohan Singh attacked Nirmala Sitharaman by saying that the government should stop blaming the opposition as it has been in power for more than five years. “This government has now been in office for five years. It should have learnt from our mistakes and provided a credible solution for the economy,” he said.
What Manmohan Singh conveniently forgets while sermonizing Nirmala Sitharaman is that Independent India’s economy didn’t begin on 26th May 2014, it started on 15th August 1947, with the first Congress government. What Manmohan Singh conveniently forgets is that every new government inherits the baggage of the old when it comes to power. And look at what Modi Government inherited.
Congress had taken money from public investments in infrastructure and squandered it in populist schemes like MGNREGA whose contribution in nation’s development was zilch. Sonia Gandhi undermined the Prime Minister’s office with her unconstitutional leftist parallel cabinet called the NAC. The ultra-left economic policies of UPA Government were all framed by the same parallel cabinet as the great economist Dr. Manmohan Singh chose to play the authorized signatory.
Dr Manmohan Singh also chose to play a wordless bystander when gargantuan scams like 2G, Coalgate, Agusta-Westland, Commonwealth and National Herald were happening right under his nose. It must be noted that Manmohan Singh was the Coal Minister when Coalgate happened. It was this proclivity of Manmohan Singh that sparked PM Modi’s “he knows the art of bathing in a bathroom with a raincoat on” Rajya Sabha remark.
The NPA crisis for which Manmohan and his colleagues blamed the NDA government was a creation of Congress itself. As a matter of fact, Raghuram Rajan, former RBI Governor, has gone on record to accuse the UPA for the NPA crisis. NPA mess was a textbook case of institutionalized corruption where PSU Banks were looted in broad daylight by crooked crony capitalists under the protection and patronage of Congress party leaders.
It was the Modi government that brought Insolvency and Bankruptcy (IBC) code which has proved to be especially helpful in solving the NPA problem. NPA problem is expected to ease out in next one or two years.
In 2004, UPA inherited a flourishing economy with over 7% growth and they tanked it to under 5% in 10 years. When Modi government came to power, Fiscal deficit, at around 5%, was at an all-time high. Inflation was at an all-time high and our foreign reserves were dwindling. In fact, India was placed in the fragile 5 economies of the world.
So, while sermonizing Nirmala Sitharaman, Manmohan Singh must not forget the colossal scams!
So, while sermonizing Nirmala Sitharaman, Manmohan Singh must not forget the NPA mess!
So, while sermonizing Nirmala Sitharaman, Manmohan Singh must not forget Sonia’s parallel cabinet and its ultra-left economic policies!
So, while sermonizing Nirmala Sitharaman, Manmohan Singh must not forget the burden that the Modi government inherited.
This quote by Portia from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice sums it up – I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching!
