Manmohan Singh rips into Narendra Modi, demands national debate on governance failure

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In his most brutal attack yet, Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday ripped into Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing his government of utter failure leading to agrarian crisis, economic turmoil and deteriorating ties with neighbouring countries.

FILE PHOTO/PTI

Speaking at the launch of Congress leader Kapil Sibal’s book Shades of Truth–A Journey Derailed, Singh also accused Modi government of ‘slowly but surely’ undermining the values that a democratic polity should fiercely protect and called for a meaningful national debate on it.

“The Modi government has slowly but surely undermined the values that any democratic polity should fiercely protect. Important national institutions vital for good governance are experiencing unprecedented new strains,” PTI quoted the former prime minister as saying.

Singh, also an economist of repute, went on to add that the Modi government “has not constructively dealt with the agrarian crisis facing the nation and the indication of that is that every now and then in state capitals and the national capital, farmers die in protest. Farmers are still not assured of receiving the remunerative prices of their produce.”

Referring Modi’s 2014 promises of 2 crore jobs, Singh said that the employment growth rate had been declining in the last 4 years.

“People are not impressed by the figures that are being put out by the Modi Government to justify the creation large number of jobs. Industrial production and exports are nearly stagnant. Programmes like Make in India and Stand up India are yet to make any meaningful impact on growth of industrial production.

“Small and marginal enterprises are yet derive any benefits from ease of doing business and demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST have badly hurt these enterprises,” Singh was quoted by IANS.

Singh also embarrassed Modi on his much-publicised claim on bringing back black money allegedly stashed in foreign banks. He also slammed the central government for having spoiled the country’s relations with its neighbours.

He said, “Our relations with neighbours have deteriorated in last 4 years. Modi government has failed to address issues relating to creative use of science and technology.”

The Congress party’s offensive approach against the Modi government assumes significance in light of the next year’s crucial Lok Sabha polls, when the BJP will be seeking people’s mandate based on its performance in the last five years.

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