Former prime minister Manmohan Singh took a jibe at incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his failure to speak on important issues affecting the nation. Singh who had earlier received flak for remaining silent, this time asked Modi to follow his own advice of speaking more often. Questioning Modi’s silence on the Kathua rape incident, Manmohan said that Modi “should follow his own advice to me” and “speak more often”. Modi might be known for his oratory skills but often he has maintained his silence over vital issues.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that generally Narendra Modi doesn’t speak and reacts to every issue very late. He said, “He only speaks after assessing the situation and after thinking that if any incident impacts his party. Manmohan Singh used to interact with media once in three to six months; whereas, Modi is a self-obsessed PM and only interested in one-way communication.”
Thus, Singh has managed to turn the tables on Modi who had earlier called him as MaunMohan Singh. When BJP was in the opposition, Modi used to aggressively criticise the Congress government and former PM Manmohan Singh for their failure to control inflation and eliminate corruption. After the BJP government came to power, PM Modi is facing the heat for his failure to provide good governance. These incidents only go to show that it is easy to make statements against the ruling government when a party is in opposition but when they come to power they too face the same situation.
BJP spokesperson Shivray Kulkarni said that Modi will react on the right time as he does speak on every important issue. He said, “Modi will definitely speak and he is the first Prime Minister who connects with the masses through his programme Mann Ki Baat. Opposition always criticises Modi even when he interacts with the people through his programme Mann Ki Baat and also when he doesn’t speak.”
The Modi government will soon complete four years in power but it has failed to deliver the promises made by it to the people. While campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Modi had promised to generate two crore jobs but the nation is witnessing a jobless growth. Reminding Modi about the promises made by him Manmohan Singh had stated, “When Modi was campaigning, he made lots of tall promises; those promises have not been fulfilled. He said we will provide two crore jobs, we have not seen even two lakh jobs.”
Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi said that Manmohan Singh is an intelligent person and a famed economist. He said, “The Modi government has failed on every front — be it foreign investment policy, development, and governance. Statements issued by Manmohan Singh are true but he should be more aggressive while attacking. On the other hand, Narendra Modi is communal and his government in indulging in religious polarisation, triple talaq, Hindutva and cow slaughter.”
This is not the first instance when Modi has maintained his silence over important issues. On November 8, 2016, the Modi government surprised the nation by suddenly announcing the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. More than 100 people died while standing in queues to withdraw their money but PM Modi didn’t express condolence over the loss of lives.
Congress leader Bhai Jagtap said, “When Manmohan Singh was the prime minister, leaders from opposition parties like Narendra Modi, Sushma Swaraj and Vajpayee used to criticise him for remaining silent. They used to offer suggestions to him about what his government should do. But people are aware of the good governance provided by UPA government led by Singh.”
“Modi had stated that he had become Prime Minister due to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and at the same time his party leader Anant Kumar Hegde says that BJP has come to power to change the constitution,” he added.
When the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam pertaining to irregularities in admission in state-run medical colleges and recruitment in government jobs was unearthed, opposition asked Modi to issue a clarification in the Parliament, but he failed to do so. When journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot to death by unknown assailants outside her home in Bangalore on September 5, 2017, Modi didn’t condemn the incident as netizens questioned about his silence over the issue.
The Rs 11,400 crore Nirav Modi-PNB fraud case might have affected the Indian banking system but Modi chose to remain mum about it. He has not issued any statement about eliminating black money. The Modi government has been blaming Congress for rising corruption but it has not taken any initiative to form Lokpal. When tension between India and China had increased over the Doklam conflict, Modi didn’t issue any statement about it and the government chose to downplay the incident.
