New Delhi: Taking a subtle dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday that he was never afraid of interacting with the media.
“I certainly would like to say that I was not the prime minister who was afraid of talking to the press,” the former prime minister was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. “I met the press regularly and on every foreign trip that I undertook…I had a press conference in the plane or immediately after the landing.”
Though he is not known to be a great orator, Manmohan Singh has made some notable remarks and statements since he ceased being Prime Minister in May 2014. Here are a few of them:
December 2018:
“I want to appeal to the people that they should understand how the present government is taking the nation on a wrong path and there is a need to strongly fight against it” (As reported by PTI)
November 2018:
“The very idea of India revolves around unity in diversity and diversity in unity…India is a multicultural, multilingual, multi-religious society…communal harmony is extremely important for citizens” (As reported by Indian Express)
August 2018:
"Let us respect this sentiment and keep Teen Murti as a memorial to our first prime minister Pandit Nehru and leave the Teen Murti complex undisturbed as it is. This way we will be respecting both history and heritage…Jawaharlal Nehru belongs not just to the Congress but to the entire nation. It is in this spirit that I have written to you.” (In a letter to PM Narendra Modi)
November 2017:
“Bullet train, launched with much fanfare, is an exercise in vanity. Did PM consider the alternative of the high-speed train by upgrading broad gauge railway?” (As quoted by news agency ANI)
November 2016:
“So, all these measures convince me that the way this scheme [demonitisation] has been implemented is a monumental management failure and in fact, it is a case of organised loot and legalised plunder” (In a speech in the Rajya Sabha)