'First PM To Lower Dignity, Gravity Of Office': Manmohan Singh Slams Modi In Open Letter

In an open letter, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took dig at PM Modi over farmers' issue, economy, management of Covid-19 among others.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh slams Narendra Modi

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday slammed his successor Narendra Modi, saying the latter is the first PM to lower the dignity of public discourse and the gravity of the chair. In an open letter, which comes on the last day of campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections 2024, Singh said that Modi has indulged in the "most vicious" form of hate speeches which are "purely divisive" in nature. 

"I have been keenly following the political discourse during this election campaign," said the former PM, adding, "Modi ji has indulged in the most vicious form of hate speeches, which are purely divisive in nature."

"Modi ji is the first Prime Minister to lower the dignity of public discourse, and thereby the gravity of the office of the Prime Minister. No Prime Minister in the past has uttered such hateful, unparliamentary and coarse terms, meant to target either a specific section of the society or the opposition," he added. 

“In the past ten years, the BJP government has left no stone unturned in castigating Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiyat.

750 farmers, mostly belonging to Punjab, were martyred while incessantly waiting at Delhi borders, for months together. As if the lathis and the rubber bullets… pic.twitter.com/xJZQrsT3f8

— Congress (@INCIndia) May 30, 2024

Singh also responded to the allegations leveled by Modi, during a poll rally in Rajasthan's Banswara this year, that the former Prime Minister had said that Muslims have the "first right" on country's resources.   

"He has also attributed some false statements to me," Singh said, adding, "I have never in my life singled out one community from the other. That is the sole copyright of the BJP."

In the letter, Singh also trained guns on Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the issues of farmers' protest saying that the current dispensation "has left no stone unturned in castigating Punjab, Punjabisand Punjabiyat." 

He also called out the ruling saffron party over country's economy, "painful mismanagement" during Covid-19, and "depletion of household savings" among other issues.