NEW DELHI: In one of his last press conferences as Prime Minister in January 2014, Dr Manmohan Singhwho died Thursday at the age of 92, gave a fitting response to growing criticism of his leadership, stating that “history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media.”
The news conference included questions about the leadership of the congressional veteran, whom some called weak and indecisive. Singh faced these questions amid the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign to present its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, as a strong leader.
Singh defended his record by saying: “I don’t think I was a weak Prime Minister. I honestly think history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or, for that matter, the opposition in Parliament. Given the political constraints,” “I did the best I could.”
And he added: “I have done as well as I could under the circumstances. It is for history to judge what I have done or what I have not done.”
Singh’s tenure ended when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in May 2014.
Criticizing Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots, Singh had said: “If you measure the strength of the Prime Minister presiding over a mass slaughter of innocent citizens on the streets of Ahmedabad, then I don’t believe in it. I don’t believe this kind of “The strength that this country needs the least from its Prime Minister. “I sincerely believe that what Narendra Modi says is not going to materialize,” he said.
He also highlighted the success of the Congress Party in managing coalition governments during its two terms, saying that concessions were made on “peripheral issues and not on national problems”. When asked about internal criticism within the Congress, Singh replied: “No one has asked me to resign due to any deficiency that characterized my tenure as prime minister.”