The Manmohan Singh legacy: 'Silent' but never weak

Singh told in his third and last press conference as Prime Minister, 'I do not believe that I have been a weak Prime Minister...I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or for that matter the Opposition... It is for history to judge what I have done or what I have not done'

New Delhi: A couple of months before he lost power 11 years ago, Manmohan Singh rebuffed those who were calling him weak and said history will be kinder to him than the contemporary media or the then Opposition BJP, which is now the ruling party.

If the Opposition called him 'Maunmohan' Singh to claim that he remained silent and powerless in critical situations, detractors within his party were upset over his stubbornness on policy issues.

But the cycle soon changed for him, if Opposition leaders are to be believed. Narendra Modi's aggressive governance style stymying the Opposition in his first two terms attracted earlier detractors towards him.

He became the voice of conscience for the Congress and the overall Opposition during this period. His one comment on demonetisation "organised loot and legal plunder" was often repeated to target Modi's economic policy even by those who were once opposed to his advocacy of liberalisation.

That is why Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in his condolence message recalling what Singh said on 3 January, 2014, "undoubtedly, history shall judge you kindly, Dr. Manmohan Singh-ji".

Singh told in his third and last press conference as Prime Minister, "I do not believe that I have been a weak Prime Minister...I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or for that matter the Opposition...Given the political compulsions, I have done the best I could do...It is for history to judge what I have done or what I have not done."

If BJP accused him of being silent, Singh was always vocal when Congress needed him. It was Singh who apologised for the Congress in Parliament on anti-Sikh riots.

He was sharply critical of Modi during his January 2014 press conference when he said, "it will be disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as Prime Minister". Before this, he said, "if you measure the strength of the Prime Minister by presiding over the mass massacre of innocent citizens on streets of Ahmedabad, then I do not believe in it.... I do not think that this kind of strength this country needs least from its Prime Minister."

However, his prediction of Modi not becoming the Prime Minister did not fructify.

Senior Congress leaders recall how he dealt with detractors in the party. During his Finance Minister days, he used to face trouble from within the party with senior leaders like Arjun Singh cornering him.

Singh used to refer to 1991 Congress manifesto to rebut them with an exasperated Arjun Singh once telling him, "you (Singh) are the only one who has read that manifesto".