The highs and lows of PM Manmohan Singh's political career

Manmohan Singh speaks to the press on his 10 year term as Prime Minister

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh broke his silence in his first address to the media over the last 3 years. Here is a look at the highs and lows of the political career of Manmohan Singh.

Highs

• Manmohan Singh steered the Indo-US civil nuclear energy deal amidst stiff opposition from the Left parties even risking the UPA-I government.
• Showed his political astuteness in getting Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party on board in 2008.    
• Rights based laws enacted - Right to Information, Right to Education, MNREGA Employment Guarantee scheme.
• Economic boom: India recorded over 9% GDP growth in first four years of UPA.
• UPA-II came to power with Manmohan Singh as Congress PM.
• Food bill and Lok Pal acts passed.
• FDI in multi-brand retail : despite Trinamool Congress walking out of coalition in 2012.

Lows

• Manmohan Singh's image declines as UPA-II embroiled in scam after scam - PM lambasted as 'silent' PM.
• Coal scam, 2G telecom scam, taking alongwith it several Union ministers.
• Rail minister Pawan Bansal and Law minister Ashwani Kumar, both considered close to Manmohan Singh, forced to resign undermining PM's clout in the Cabinet.
• Declining value of the rupee instills fear of economic collapse.
• Galloping food inflation and price rise and failure of the government to arrest it.
• Rahul Gandhi as Congress Vice President trashes Cabinet's ordinance on tainted netas as "nonsense", undermining PM's authority. Government retracts ordinance.
• Congress politically decimated in last four assembly polls largely attributed to UPA's poor performance.
• Calls for PM's resignation and Rahul Gandhi's appointment as PM candidate by Congress politicos.