New Delhi: In his last press conference as Prime Minister on January 3, 2014, Dr Manmohan Singh made a remark that has made the rounds on social media multiple times over the past decade.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was the main opposition party at the time when Singh was the PM from 2004 to 2014, often termed him as the “weak” prime minister and alleged that Sonia Gandhi was running the government from behind the curtains. Back in 2014, towards the end of his second term as the PM, he gave a befitting reply to all his critics during a press conference.
At the press conference, reporters asked questions about Singh’s leadership. Replying to one of the questions, the former PM had said, “I believe, history will be kinder to me than the comtemprary media and for that matter the opposition.” His term ended in 2014 after the BJP won the parlimentary polls and Narendra Modi became the next PM of the country.
At the time, the UPA-II government was reeling under allegations of corruption in several of its ministries, a key reason behind the Congress’s rout in the 2014 general election and the Narendra Modi-led BJP’s ascent to power.
The 92-year-old former Prime Minister breathed his last on Thursday. He had been keeping unwell for a while. The AIIMS said in a statement that Dr Singh was under treatment for age-related conditions. Today, he lost consciousness at home. “Resuscitative measures were started immediately at home. He was brought to the Medical Emergency at AIIMS at 8.06 PM. Despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9.51 PM,” the hospital said.
Before heading the Executive as Prime Minister, Dr Singh served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and oversaw India’s economic reforms under the PV Narasimha Rao government as Finance Minister.
Mourning his predecessor in the top post, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished leaders.
