Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh shows his ink-marked finger after casting his vote through the postal ballot for the Lok Sabha polls, from his residence, in New Delhi. File
“I have been trying to keep up with politics during this election campaign and I must say that Modi Ji has gone for the foulest kinds of hate speeches which can only be regarded as divisive,” said Dr. Singh in a three-page appeal to Punjab voters on Thursday.
Denying allegations that he targeted one community with regard to reservation, his predecessor Dr. Manmohan Singh accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “lowering the dignity of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with hate speeches”.
“In fact, I have been closely following political debates during this electioneering period and Modiji is guilty of engaging in most ferocious hate speeches that are merely sectarian” said Dr. Singh in a three page address directed at all Punjab voters on Thursday.
Polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1 during the last phase of general elections.
“Modi ji is not talking about how public discourse should be carried out by a prime minister; he does not even understand what it means to be a prime minister! No previous prime minister has used such hateful or unparliamentary words as he did against either targeted groups or opposition parties,” he added “He also attributed certain false statements to me, but throughout my life I have never made distinction between any religious communities at all: it is BJP’s exclusive domain.”
Dr. Singh didn’t mention the remark about the community in his letter. However, Mr. Modi at a public meeting in Rajasthan, claimed that Dr. Singh said (in 2006) “Muslims had the first claim on the country’s resources”.
Dr. Singh argued that over ten years of BJP rule had witnessed relentless attempts by its government officials to disparage ‘Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiyat’. Of all the farmers who were protesting against now repealed farm laws at Delhi borders for months together, 750 of them mostly from Punjab lost their lives. “And even so, they could not avoid being told to shut up by no other than the Prime Minister himself on the floor of Parliament. I would like to draw your attention to some of his comments: ‘Andolanjeevis’ and ‘Parjeevi’ (Parasites). Manmohan only wanted a repeal of three arbitrary farm laws that were never discussed with them”, he said adding that BJP policies have made farming uneconomical.
Regarding the Indian economy since BJP took over, Dr. Singh observed that it had gone through untold amounts of turmoil. “The imposition of the demonetisation disaster, a flawed GST, and painful mismanagement during COVID pandemic have pushed nature into chaos… Unprecedented unemployment and unbridled inflation have greatly widened inequality which is now at a 100 year high… household savings have been drained to an unprecedented low in almost five decades due to maladministration by BJP… There are 30 lakh government vacancies.” he said.
He added that the BJP government imposed an ill-conceived Agniveer Scheme on our Armed Forces. “Their patriotism, bravery and service has only four years left according to BJP. This shows their fake nationalism. Regular recruits who had trained hard in anticipation found themselves sadly sold out by this administration at its exit gate,” he noted.” The youth of Punjab, the son of the farmer, who dreams of serving the motherland through the Armed Forces, is now thinking twice about getting recruited only for a 4-year stint. National Security is under threat because of Agniveer Scheme therefore Congress party has promised to do away with Agniveer Scheme,” he said.
