Born on September 26, 1932 in Ghar, undivided Punjab (now in Pakistan), Manmohan Singh’s long and illustrious career is a testament to the hard-working spirit often exhibited by those affected by Partition. Illustration: R. Rajesh
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, 92, passed away late Thursday (December 26, 2024) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Also read: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s death reaction released live
Dr Singh retired as a Rajya Sabha member representing the state of Rajasthan in February this year. Prior to this, he represented Assam in the Upper House for six terms from 1991.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised him on his last day in Rajya Sabha, calling him an “inspiring role model”.
Also read: Manmohan Singh’s 1991 Budget: The day that changed India forever
“The way Mr. Manmohan Singh has led the country for so long…he will be one of the few respected members of parliament whose contributions will always be remembered whenever our democracy comes up,” Modi said. he said.
Described as a reluctant politician, the high point of Dr Singh’s 10-year tenure as prime minister was his response to the India-US nuclear deal.
The economist-turned-politician almost single-handedly provided outside support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance by securing the support of the Samajwadi Party (SP) in a crucial vote of confidence in July 2008. It turned the tables on left-wing parties. India-US nuclear agreement.
After the collapse of the 13-day Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1996, the Congress-SP relationship was mired in suspicion and distrust as Mulayam Singh Yadav reneged on his promise to support the Congress-led government. It was continuous.
But the original Mr. Clean of Indian politics, Dr. Singh will be best remembered as the man who opened up India’s economy as Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao’s trusted finance minister in 1991.
If his prescription for dealing with a severe economic crisis changed India’s trajectory in 1991, Dr. Singh’s appointment as prime minister in 2004 also marked a turning point in India’s foreign policy.
Slowly but surely, the Nehruvian government gradually moved away from its non-aligned approach as it sought to establish relations on a more equal footing with the superpowers, including the United States.
Born on September 26, 1932 in Ghar, undivided Punjab (now in Pakistan), Dr. Singh’s long and distinguished career is a testament to the industrious spirit often exhibited by those affected by Partition.
Dr. Singh was an excellent student who earned a first-class degree in economics from Cambridge University in the early 1960s and a PhD from Oxford, gaining a reputation as an economist and being promoted to several prestigious institutions. I was working at
Before becoming Minister of Finance in 1991 at the age of 58, he held various top positions in the economic world, including Chief Economic Advisor, Chief Economic Advisor, and Economic Advisor. Vice-chairman of the Planning Committee. Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and Union Finance Secretary.
Dr. Singh’s skill in guiding the country’s economy through its worst crisis in the 1990s, as well as his political skills in bringing India into the prestigious nuclear club, has earned him many admirers internationally.
In 2010, former US President Barack Obama praised Dr. Singh’s deep knowledge on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Toronto, Canada.
Also read: When Singh speaks, people listen: Obama
“What we can say here at the G20 is that when prime ministers speak, people listen,” President Obama said.
However, it was also a time when Dr Singh’s image at home took a hit as a series of fraud allegations in areas such as 2G spectrum allocation, coal mining area allocation and the Commonwealth Games dominated the headlines.
While inflation and price increases angered the common man, businesses began talking about “policy paralysis” under Dr. Singh.
In September 2013, while Dr. Singh was on an official visit to the United States, the Bharatiya Janata Party veteran was arrested after the then Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi expressed public disapproval of the controversial ordinance. L.K. Advani reiterated his condemnation, saying, “Dr. Singh was the weakest Prime Minister in history.”
The BJP has always described him as someone who was being “remotely controlled” by the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
However, there was also evidence to the contrary. He risked his government’s survival in 2008 by pushing through the nuclear deal against his party’s wishes. Left-wing parties have made it clear that they will withdraw their political support from Dr. Singh if he pushes through with the nuclear deal.
When the Congress won a second consecutive term in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the mainstream media coined the phrase ‘Singh is king’.
In July 2009, against the wishes of his party and the mood of the people, Dr. Singh seized the opportunity with Pakistan and signed a joint statement in Sharm el-Sheikh with his then Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani.
Many strategists questioned the statement linking India’s demand for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to Pakistan’s concerns about terrorism in Balochistan. However, the Prime Minister was convinced of the need to proceed with a complex dialogue process.
Corruption allegations stemming from unfavorable audit reports under Auditor General Vinod Rai, a mass campaign by Maharashtra-based activist Anna Hazare for an anti-corruption ombudsman, and December 2012 The street protests after Nirbhaya’s gang rape triggered a political storm and swept the society. It received support from the Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
In January 2014, at his last press conference as Prime Minister, Dr Singh said: “I honestly believe that history has been kinder to me than the modern media and, for that matter, the opposition in Congress.”
The sadness that naturally arose when he passed away may have proven him right.
issued – December 26, 2024 10:43 PM IST
