Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s vitriolic attack on Narendra Modi invited an angry reaction from the BJP, which also questioned the UPA Government on its rampant corruption, high inflation and growing unemployment. BJP described the Prime Minister’s (PM) stint at the top as a “wasted opportunity” and blamed him for not giving any direction to the country.
“I condemn this statement (on Modi) of the Prime Minister. It is very unfortunate that the Prime Minister is saying this even when the SIT and court have given him a clean chit,” BJP president Rajnath Singh said. The BJP chief said it was “laughable” to make such a statement even when Modi as Chief Minister has presented Gujarat as a model State in the country through the development work initiated by him there.
“It is a laughable statement to say that he should not be the Prime Minister as during his tenure riots have taken place in Gujarat. Modi in his tenure as Chief Minister has presented Gujarat as a model of development and a model State in the country,” he said. “Whatever has happened in 2002 is unfortunate and painful,” he added.
“Using such a phrase against Modi (that he will be disastrous for the country as premier) does not add to the dignity of the PM’s office. If the dirty tricks department of the Congress had used such language, it is understandable. I do not think that the PM of the country is part of this department,” leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley told reporters.
The Opposition party made light of the PM’s ‘time will tell’ refrain and said in a democracy it is the voter who tells. BJP leaders referred to the rout of the Congress and predicted that more bad news could be in store for the ruling party in the national election because of the faulty policy of the Manmohan Singh Government.
Jaitley claimed the PM manufactured a new logic that the electoral verdict of 2009 in favour of the UPA had washed away the stains of corruption from his regime and said the PM should use the same logic for Modi since he has won three elections in Gujarat since the 2002 riots. “No one else in India since 1947 has gone through such a scrutiny involving the Police, Supreme Court, an SIT probe ordered by the SC and a Commission of Enquiry,” Jaitley said.
Jaitley took pot shots at the PM saying if one goes by his logic, the rout of the Congress in December has put a stamp of failure on the performance of his Government. “He has a different yardstick for measuring 2009 and 2013,” Jaitley added.
The BJP leader said the big message from the PM’s Press conference was that he would not be available to provide leadership to the Congress during and after the general election and he intended to announce his farewell. “If you read between the lines, the PM has admitted that the Government has failed to curb corruption, check unemployment and contain inflation.
This is a perfect recipe for disaster. The PM tried to find an argument to suggest he gave good governance, but he could not succeed,” Jaitley said. BJP leaders questioned the PM’s claim that producers have benefited from the Government’s policies and asked if that was the case, why were so many farmers committing suicideIJ “Historians would do their academic exercise to judge Manmohan Singh. However, the electorate would do that first. There could be two views among historians on the Prime Minister’s performance, but there is only one view among the electorate,” Jaitley said.
Jaitley was highly critical of the PM’s silence on the issue of corruption and said his (Singh’s) mind space on the issues of corruption is gradually shrinking. “He has remained in power for nearly ten years without almost doing anything. This itself speaks volumes about his political ability,” Jaitley quipped. On the PM’s claims about the Indo-US nuclear deal being the high point of his stint, Jaitley said: “The attempt to buy MPs to see that the deal sails through was the lowest point of his tenure.” He, though, admitted that getting re-elected in 2009 was the PM’s biggest achievement.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said, “There is no basis whatsoever especially after the clean chit given by the Gujarat court which had examined the allegations on the direction of the Supreme Court...Hence PM should express regret to Modi.”