Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who recently retired from his long Rajya Sabha career and also keeping away from active politics due to his advanced age, on the last day of the campaign for Lok Sabha polls, came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of lowering the dignity of public discourse and the gravity of PM’s office.
He also targeted the BJP government over Agniveer scheme and appealed to Punjab voters to expose them. Singh said, ” BJP govt imposed Agniveer scheme. It thinks the value of patriotism, service is only 4 years, shows their fake nationalism.”
In a letter addressed to the country’s people ahead of the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections, Manmohan Singh said on Thursday: “Only Congress can ensure a growth-oriented progressive future where democracy and Constitution will be safeguarded.”
Manmohan Singh also appealed to Punjab voters to give love, peace, fraternity, and harmony a chance and vote for development and inclusive progress. Mounting an attack on Modi, Singh deplored, “I have been keenly following the political discourse during this election campaign. Modi ji has indulged in the most vicious form of hate speeches, which are purely divisive in nature”.
He lamented that Modiji is the first prime minister to lower the dignity of public discourse, and thereby the gravity of the office of the prime minister.
“No prime minister in the past has uttered such hateful, unparliamentary and coarse terms, meant to target either a specific section of the society or the opposition. He has also attributed some false statements to me. I have never in my life singled out one community from the other. That is the sole copyright of the BJP,” he added.
Weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had accused Manmohan Singh of having said that Muslims have the first right to wealth, the former PM, in a veiled reference to the speech, said that he had “never distinguished one community from another”.
