Former PM Manmohan Singh on Sunday launched a scathing attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “tall promises”, saying during his campaign trail, the then Gujarat CM had promised 2 crore jobs but had failed to deliver even 2 lakh. Singh was speaking at the Congress plenary, where yesterday former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had also referred to PM Modi’s promises as nothing but “draamebazi”.
Singh criticised the way the BJP-led government has handled the affairs in Jammu and Kashmir where, he said, the government has “mismanaged issues like never before”.
“They have installed a Govt where the two wings of the administration are working against each other. The atmosphere is deteriorating every day,” Singh said.
Talking about the farm distress, Singh wondered how PM Modi would “double the farmers’ income for which a growth rate of 12% per annum was necessary which is unthinkable in the current scenario.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, ever since he came to power, not just downplayed Congress’ role in the independence movement but also held the party responsible for the backwardness.
Countering Modi, Singh said that Congress had led the freedom struggle and guided India towards development after Independence. “India stands at the crossroads. We have opportunities, but we also have challenges. The Congress party will provide a new pathway to chalk out the future of our country,” he said.
Singh added that under Modi, India faced the challenge of carrying forward the development and social justice.
The former PM also questioned the current government’s policy towards Pakistan, saying neighbour’s support to “cross-border terrorism was unacceptable”, and it should be warned that its actions were “detrimental to peace and prosperity.”