What did the Prime Minister say?

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh interacted with the media on 3^rd January, 2014. This was the third time that he did so ever since he took over as PM in 2004. Let us take a look at what he said on various issues:

On 2014:

Like most press conferences, this one also started with an opening statement. Dr. Singh, in the last part of his opening statement, said: “In a few months time, after the general election, I will hand the baton over to a new Prime Minister.”

His announcement that he won’t be a candidate for the PM’s post after the Lok Sabha elections this year comes just before the All India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting scheduled to take place on the 17^th of this month, in which the Indian National Congress (INC) is expected to announce its PM candidate (no prizes for guessing who it will be – Rahul Gandhi).

On Rahul Gandhi V/S Narendra Modi:

When asked about Rahul Gandhi (presently, the Vice-President of the INC) as PM, he said that Rahul Gandhi has outstanding credentials to be nominated as the Prime Minister (though he didn’t elaborate on those “credentials”).

On Narendra Modi, he gave a rather uncharacteristically aggressive response. He said: “It will be disastrous for the country to have Shri Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister.”

Replying to another question about the perception that he has been a weak PM, Dr. Singh again chose to take a pot-shot at Mr. Modi by saying, “I do not believe that I have been a weak PM. That is for the historians to judge. The BJP and its associates may say whatever they like. But if by “strong PM”, you mean that you preside over a mass massacre of innocent citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad (obvious reference to the Gujarat riots in 2002), that is the measure of strength, I do not believe that sort of strength this country needs, least of all, in its Prime Minister.”

On the economy:

Leaving the political statements aside, Singh also talked on issues. He accepted the fact that his government had failed to curb corruption and tame inflation. He also rued the fact that he had not been as successful as he needed to be in generating employment in the manufacturing sector.

But this didn’t stop him from highlighting the fact that the period 2004-2013 had seen the highest rate of economic growth in India in any nine year period. He also mentioned that the farmers had benefitted from inflation as they received higher prices for their produce.

On the best moment of his tenure as PM:

He cited the signing of the nuclear deal with the United States in 2008 as his best moment. This is not surprising since he had to face a lot of opposition against the deal not only from coalition partners (the Left front which had been supporting the UPA1 government withdrew its support on this issue) but also from within his party. But he asserted himself and eventually with the backing of Sonia Gandhi (INC President), he was successful in getting through with it.

But the fact to be noted here is that in the second tenure of the UPA, there have been many problems in the implementation of the deal and hardly anything has actually materialized to provide benefits to the people of India in spite of the fact that 5 years have passed.

All in all, he answered a lot of questions (the interaction lasted for more than an hour) ranging from corruption to relations with Pakistan and US in his usual soft-spoken and diplomatic manner but the interaction left a lot more to be desired because of the fact that he didn’t give any direct answers to various questions relating to both corruption and the economy. In fact, these two are the areas where he could have done something extraordinary considering the fact that he had a clean image and he was a renowned economist before becoming the Prime Minister.

 There is a buzz around that he may continue doing these interactions every month till the elections.  Do watch this space for more information.