PM's presser

Manmohan Singh called Narendra Modi a “disastrous prospect” to lead India in an uncharacteristically harsh attack on the BJP leader that overshadowed Singh ruling out a third term for himself, paving the way for Rahul Gandhi’s projection as Congress’ PM face.
The 81-year-old Singh categorically said he was not in the running to be the prime minister again after two stints in the top job, the most by anyone outside the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. “In a few months time, after the general elections, I will hand the baton over to a new prime minister.”
But he made it clear that he did not want Modi to be his successor and taunted that the Gujarat chief minister’s oft-repeated campaign line of a “Congress-mukt Bharat”, or Congress-free India, would not materialise.
“I sincerely believe that it will be disastrous for the country to have Modi as the prime minister,” the usually soft-spoken Singh said, adding that he hoped the next prime minister would be chosen by UPA.
Dismissing charges of being a weak prime minister, a charge often levelled at him by BJP to underline the contrast with the perceived strength of Modi, Singh said the nation does not need a PM for whom strength means presiding “over a mass massacre of innocent citizens in the streets of Ahmedabad”.
Modi, who has in the past spared no attempt at mocking Singh, did not react to the PM’s comments, although BJP said such words did not look good coming from the prime minister.
Singh, however, found an unexpected ally in the Aam Aadmi Party, with one of its leaders — activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan — saying that he agreed with the PM. “I agree with him on one thing — that Narendra Modi will be extremely dangerous for this country. Apart from being communal and a fascist, he has shown that he is equally corrupt as Congress and these mainstream political parties,” Bhushan said.
Much of the interaction — Singh’s third full-fledged press conference in nearly 10 years — was dominated by questions on Rahul Gandhi and the prime minister’s own legacy.

From the Singh who was king at the end of his first term, the PM has come a long way, by the end of his second. He has his government to blame, not just the global crisis, overstepping auditors and judicial overreach. Corruption underwrites the political system, not just UPA. But Singh went with the flow, staying off the party and its politicking, which he saw as outside his remit. Voters judge him harshly for it. But history is likely to be kinder. Under his watch, the Indian economy has grown at its fastest ever rate and undergone structural transformation. Farming today employs less than 50% of the workforce and poverty has fallen sharply. Social capital and cohesion have grown, besides rural infrastructure. India is poised for fast growth. If the credit escapes him, he has no one else to blame.

Many commentators believe the prime minister’s own legacy has been blighted by the series of scandals during UPA-II and the slowest economic growth in a decade towards the end of his term.
Stressing that UPA would have been strengthened if Rahul Gandhi had joined the government, Singh said he respected the Congress vice-president’s sentiment of choosing to focus on party work.
“Rahul Gandhi has outstanding credentials to be nominated as the ‘presidential’ candidate and I hope our party will take that decision at an appropriate time,” he said, creating ambiguity on whether he was referring to the PM’s post or the Congress party’s leadership post for the Gandhi scion. Singh blamed the media and the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for “overstating” the dimensions of the scandals that have rocked his tenure such as the 2G spectrum scam, Coalgate and several dubious land deals. He said many of the so called scams took place during UPA-I, suggesting the re-election of UPA in 2009 had effectively drawn a line under these scandals. “No one individual or authority can substitute the due processes of democratic governance,” Singh said, in an oblique reference to agencies such as CAG and CBI, whose actions in the past couple of years have embarrassed the government.
“I feel somewhat sad, because I was the one who insisted that spectrum allocations should be transparent, fair and equitable. I was the one who insisted that coal block allocations should be on the basis of auctions. These facts are forgotten,” Singh said.
Singh laid the responsibility of dealing with “land issues” or scams at states’ doorstep, adding that the Centre has consistently advised state governments to ensure transparency in these cases. Steps needed to counter persistent inflation, which Singh has often said is a tax on the poorest of the poor, were also largely in the states’ domain, he said. “We should remember that our inclusive policies have put more money in the hands of the weaker sections,” the PM said, adding that incomes for most people increased faster than inflation and the new food security law will shield the common man from rising prices “to some extent”.
Declaring the economic growth record under UPA to be unparalleled even after accounting for the recent slowdown, Singh conceded that domestic factors such as infrastructure bottlenecks and the lack of “timely clearances of projects from environment and forest perspective” combined with global factors had hurt the economy. “My office monitors all major sectors, particularly infrastructure, and if there are any weaknesses in the functioning of one ministry, these things are discussed in the Cabinet from time to time,” Singh said, offering a hint about the rationale for the recent displacement of Jayanthi Natarajan from the environment and forest ministry by Veerappa Moily. Urging people not to focus “overly on the short term”, Singh said his own priority during the remainder of his term in office was to revive the “growth impulses” in the economy. Singh also released a booklet marking the major achievements of his government’s 10-year term.