As PM prepares to demit office, Digvijay Singh praises his resilient spirit

As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh prepares to demit office, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has applauded him for his achievements and resilient spirit.

"Manmohan Singh's integrity has always been beyond doubt and he has led the recovery of the Indian economy as Finance Minister and also as the Prime Minister of this country," Singh said.

Singh will step down on May 17 after being in the jon for a decade.

Digvijay Singh also highlighted the achievements of the Congress-led UPA Government in various sectors.

"In the last ten years, Manmohan Singh's Government has done well on the economic front, has done well in all sectors, including agriculture, education, health and employment. We also registered a much higher growth rate in the agricultural sector," he said.

He, however, took a dig at the National Democratic Alliance regime, saying when it was in power between 1998 and 2004, it had proved to be a complete failure.

"During the NDA regime, most state governments were running in overdraft. Ever since the UPA Government has come in, only three governments are running in overdraft, which are Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab."

He also said that compared to the NDA, the UPA had invested more in the setting up of food parks, promoting health through the National Rural Health Mission and of showing increase in MSP for crop production.