Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah speaks during a condolence meeting for former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away on Thursday, in Belagavi, Karnataka, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Belagavi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah paid his tribute to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday by stating that the latter's words that "history would be kinder to him" had come true after his death.
He was speaking during a condolence meeting to mourn the demise of India's 13th prime minister at CPED Ground - the same venue where the centenary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi taking over as the Congress president in 1924 were supposed to be held on Friday.
The programme was cancelled after Singh passed away on Thursday night.
Siddaramaiah recalled Singh as a soft-natured, humble and honest politician.
"There may be bigger economists in the world than him but he worked in several fields, was in different positions and did justice to those positions," Siddaramaiah said.
Siddaramaiah recalled that Singh had called Karnataka a "robust economy" during his first term as chief minister.
Speaking of the Food Security Act, the chief minister said the current scheme by the Narendra Modi-led Centre to provide 5 kg free rice to the poor began due to Singh's farsight.
'Start economic centre in BU named after Singh'
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar asked Higher Education Minister Dr M C Sudhakar to start an economic study and research centre named after Singh in Bangalore University.
Shivakumar termed the Food Security Act introduced during Singh's premiership as the preface for Siddaramaiah's Anna Bhagya.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil credited the former PM for the 36 crore-strong middle class in the country when he left power.
Speaking of Singh's humble beginning, Patil said: "He never tried to gain sympathy of his poverty for political growth but gave policies to remove poverty in the country."
A documentary on Singh was played on the occasion.