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Two prime ministers of India – one present and one former – on Wednesday sparred about the credentials of each other’s government, with Narendra Modi contesting Manmohan Singh’s charge that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime was a threat to institutions of democracy and the Constitution.
Modi said the opposite was true. Without referring either to Congress President Sonia Gandhi or Singh by name, Modi suggested she was the one who had been an “unconstitutional” authority exercising “real” power over the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) during the United Progressive Alliance rule, power that had now been restored to constitutional entities.
A statement from Singh’s office said he met the prime minister in the evening at his residence, at the latter’s invitation, to discuss “the economic situation and foreign policy issues”. “Very happy to meet Dr Manmohan Singh ji & welcome him back to 7RCR. We had a great meeting,” Modi tweeted later.
Dismissing the Congress president’s accusation that the NDA government was showing “obstinate arrogance” in Parliament and that it was a government by “one person”, Modi said, “Perhaps, she is referring to the fact that earlier extra-constitutional authorities were the ones actually wielding power.” If the charge is that “we are working through constitutional channels and not listening to any extra-constitutional authorities, then I plead guilty to that charge”.
His sharpest attack yet on both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi came in the course of an interview to news agency Press Trust of India. Asked about the criticism that all powers were concentrated in the PMO, Modi responded, “Your question is loaded. It would have been better if this question had been asked when an unconstitutional authority was sitting above the constitutional authority and exercising power over the PMO.”
He emphasised that “the prime minister and the PMO are very much part of the constitutional scheme, not outside it”.
That Modi was undermining constitutional bodies was also emphasised by Singh. In a rare appearance at a public meeting — he was addressing members of the National Students Union of India — Singh defended himself against allegations of corruption made by the former chief of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Pradip Baijal, and charged the NDA government’s programmes as being derivative.
“I can say in all humility that I’ve not used my public office to enrich myself, enrich my family or enrich my friends,” Singh said, much like Rajiv Gandhi’s plea when the Bofors scandal broke in the 1980s.
About the NDA he said, “What the Bharatiya Janata Party had opposed when we were in power is now being sold as its contribution. Many of our programmes are now being repackaged and marketed as initiatives of the Modi government. But this doesn’t surprise us. This is the compliment the BJP could pay to the constructive work done by the UPA government.”
Asserting that the UPA had nothing to feel apologetic about, Singh said, "We have nothing but to be proud of our achievements. What we did was take a massive amount of people out of poverty and disease. The task, though unfulfilled, was widely achieved. I could go on, but the time is limited."
Refuting the Modi government’s claims on the economy, Singh said there was a “fragileness” in economic recovery under the NDA government that had also been highlighted by Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan. "We had launched many new programmes, new schemes. We had put in place many new policies. This had led to profound social transformation and unprecedented economic growth," he said.
Interestingly, in his interview, Modi chose to rebut only the charges by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, and did not leverage Baijal’s allegations of corruption against Singh.
In his forthcoming book, Baijal says Singh had threatened him with “harm” if he did not cooperate with policies that led to the multi-crore 2G telecom spectrum scam.
Consistent with the BJP’s strategy of training its guns on cronyism and family rule in the Congress, rather than the integrity of Singh, BJP President Amit Shah said, “While Singh may not have been corrupt himself, it was his responsibility to check any such malpractices in his government. A series of scams during the UPA regime was the main reason behind the Congress's worst ever performance in Lok Sabha elections last year.”
Modi said the opposite was true. Without referring either to Congress President Sonia Gandhi or Singh by name, Modi suggested she was the one who had been an “unconstitutional” authority exercising “real” power over the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) during the United Progressive Alliance rule, power that had now been restored to constitutional entities.
A statement from Singh’s office said he met the prime minister in the evening at his residence, at the latter’s invitation, to discuss “the economic situation and foreign policy issues”. “Very happy to meet Dr Manmohan Singh ji & welcome him back to 7RCR. We had a great meeting,” Modi tweeted later.
Dismissing the Congress president’s accusation that the NDA government was showing “obstinate arrogance” in Parliament and that it was a government by “one person”, Modi said, “Perhaps, she is referring to the fact that earlier extra-constitutional authorities were the ones actually wielding power.” If the charge is that “we are working through constitutional channels and not listening to any extra-constitutional authorities, then I plead guilty to that charge”.
His sharpest attack yet on both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi came in the course of an interview to news agency Press Trust of India. Asked about the criticism that all powers were concentrated in the PMO, Modi responded, “Your question is loaded. It would have been better if this question had been asked when an unconstitutional authority was sitting above the constitutional authority and exercising power over the PMO.”
He emphasised that “the prime minister and the PMO are very much part of the constitutional scheme, not outside it”.
That Modi was undermining constitutional bodies was also emphasised by Singh. In a rare appearance at a public meeting — he was addressing members of the National Students Union of India — Singh defended himself against allegations of corruption made by the former chief of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Pradip Baijal, and charged the NDA government’s programmes as being derivative.
“I can say in all humility that I’ve not used my public office to enrich myself, enrich my family or enrich my friends,” Singh said, much like Rajiv Gandhi’s plea when the Bofors scandal broke in the 1980s.
About the NDA he said, “What the Bharatiya Janata Party had opposed when we were in power is now being sold as its contribution. Many of our programmes are now being repackaged and marketed as initiatives of the Modi government. But this doesn’t surprise us. This is the compliment the BJP could pay to the constructive work done by the UPA government.”
Asserting that the UPA had nothing to feel apologetic about, Singh said, "We have nothing but to be proud of our achievements. What we did was take a massive amount of people out of poverty and disease. The task, though unfulfilled, was widely achieved. I could go on, but the time is limited."
Refuting the Modi government’s claims on the economy, Singh said there was a “fragileness” in economic recovery under the NDA government that had also been highlighted by Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan. "We had launched many new programmes, new schemes. We had put in place many new policies. This had led to profound social transformation and unprecedented economic growth," he said.
Interestingly, in his interview, Modi chose to rebut only the charges by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, and did not leverage Baijal’s allegations of corruption against Singh.
In his forthcoming book, Baijal says Singh had threatened him with “harm” if he did not cooperate with policies that led to the multi-crore 2G telecom spectrum scam.
Consistent with the BJP’s strategy of training its guns on cronyism and family rule in the Congress, rather than the integrity of Singh, BJP President Amit Shah said, “While Singh may not have been corrupt himself, it was his responsibility to check any such malpractices in his government. A series of scams during the UPA regime was the main reason behind the Congress's worst ever performance in Lok Sabha elections last year.”
