Manmohan Singh countered BJP barbs with sharp repartees, couplets or stoic silence

Late Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chose a stoic silence towards attacks on him from the principal Opposition on most occasions but when he chose to counter some of the senior opponents it would be through short and sharp rebuttals. Known for choosing his words carefully and believing in brevity, Singh did surprise everybody with an Urdu couplet that disarmed the opposition.

Not one to engage in oratory outside Parliament, Singh faced barbs from the Opposition mostly in the two Houses during debates. He would often attend the Question Hour in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the days the PM is expected to be present and at times he would make a concise clarificatory remark on some important issue to set the matter at rest.

Veteran BJP leader LK Advani, who was his party’s PM candidate against Singh in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, made several scathing remarks against him during and after the election campaign but the prime minister chose to ignore them on most occasions. Advani had invited Singh to have a debate with him during the 2009 polls but got no response.

BJP would often allege that Singh is occupying the chair of prime minister but the real powers lie with UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi but this did not faze him. Sharing details of how he became finance minister in 1991, Singh himself said in December, 2018 that while some call him “accidental prime minister”, he was also an “accidental finance minister”.

Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Wikileaks revelations in March, 2011 about alleged bribery in the 2008 trust vote (when the cash-for-votes charges had come up), Singh had said, “Advani believes becoming prime minister is his birth-right. He has not forgiven me.” Singh suggested Advani will have to wait for another three and a half years (the 2014 general elections) for his chance.

His repartees with Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj were more entertaining with both of them taking potshots through their impressive command over Urdu. There was never any rancour or bitterness in these exchanges. Singh’s recitation of a couplet by poet Iqbal to a smiling Swaraj is often quoted on social media.

Former union minister and senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh had demanded Manmohan Singh’s resignation in 2013 and claimed that a reputed person (he refused to name him) had described him as one who is “overestimated as an economist and underrated as a politician”.

Even when the UPA-II government was saddled with scams after scams from 2G to coal, BJP could not make any allegations of financial wrongdoing or omission against Singh.

After the 2014 elections, when Congress sat in the Opposition, Singh’s rare interventions made news due to the gravitas they carried. He demolished demonetisation during his speech on the issue in the Rajya Sabha. Terming the move a “monumental disaster” and an “organised loot and legalised plunder”, the noted economist predicted a 2% decline in GDP as a consequence of this policy.

BJP quotes Singh’s purported remarks that minorities have the first right to the country’s resources every time it accuses Congress of playing appeasement politics.

While Advani and Swaraj had been more gentle in their criticism of Singh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scathing. “Manmohan Singh is a former prime minister and a respected person. He has had a direct relation and decisive role in the economic decisions of India in the last 35 years. Several scams came to light… For us politicians, there is a lot to learn from Dr Singh. So much happened and not a stain was put on him. The art of taking a bath with a raincoat on in a bathroom is known only to Dr Singh,” he said.

However, when Singh was completing his last Rajya Sabha term, Modi heaped praise on him for his role as a parliamentarian. Singh had come to vote in the House and for a committee election in a wheelchair, the prime minister said about his predecessor.

On his part, Manmohan Singh had stated earlier, “without discussing the merits of Narendra Modi, I sincerely believe that it would be disastrous for the country to have him as the prime minister.”

Not surprising that Singh had said “history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or for that matter, the Opposition parties in Parliament."