Manmohan Singh passed away on December 26, 2024, at 92, at Delhi's AIIMS Hospital. Social media is filled with tributes pouring in from all corners. While some hail him as the 'reluctant king of Indian politics', most of his admirers quote his iconic line, 'The history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media'.
After Manmohan Singh's demise, the Union government declared a seven-day mourning in honour of India's first Sikh Prime Minister. Even global leaders like Mohamed Nasheed (Maldivian President), Hamid Karzai (former President of Afghanistan), Antony Blinken (US Secretary of State), Denis Alipov (Russian Ambassador to India), and many more expressed deep grief over the unfortunate passing of India's 13th Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.
According to reports, the last rites of India's two-time PM will be held on December 28, 2024. Amidst the tributes, the Kerala government has ordered its district collectors to fly the national flag at half-mast as a mark of respect to the late politician. For the uninitiated, Manmohan Singh was working as an economics professor at Panjab University when he got the opportunity to work for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
India's former parliamentary secretary and Minister of Foreign Trade, Lalit Narayan Mishra, was the first person to recognise Manmohan Singh's intelligence as an economist and appointed him as an advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Trade. In the following years, he worked at the Reserve Bank of India, Planning Commission of India, Secretary General of South Commission, advisor to Prime Minister, Chandra Shekhar, and chairman of University Grants Commission.
Manmohan Singh's political career kick-started in full flow when he was appointed as India's Finance Minister by India's Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao. He served as Minister of Finance from 1991 to 1996, and under his leadership, the government delivered a staggering 8.5 per cent GDP growth. He also played a major role in the country's economic liberalisation in 1991. In the following years, Manmohan Singh continued to make a series of key decisions to uplift the Indian economy.
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It's fair to say that the entire world was shocked when Sonia Gandhi announced Manmohan Singh's name as the UPA candidate for the Prime Minister in 2004. The reason behind this was that Manmohan Singh had never won a direct popular election before becoming India's PM. The general public lauded his appointment because of his clean image and the fact that he was never involved in any controversy. Sonia Gandhi had single-handedly led the UPA to power in 2004, and everyone was expecting her to take up the PM's post, but she declared Manmohan Singh's name.
The appointment of Manmohan Singh as India's Prime Minister surprised everyone and the media quickly gave him the title of 'Accidental Prime Minister'. However, after so many years, in a speech in 2018, Sonia Gandhi opened up about her decision to turn down the opportunity to become India's PM and propose Manmohan Singh's name. Recalling her landmark decision, she said:
"I knew my limitations. I knew Manmohan Singh would be a better prime minister than me."
During his tenure as the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh's critics labelled him as a 'silent PM'. The critics used to troll him for not speaking much during his press conferences and speculated that he was Sonia Gandhi's puppet. Despite such baseless allegations and criticism, Manmohan Singh continued to work for India's economic growth. During the launch of his book, Changing India, the esteemed politician reacted to such accusations with a strong statement. He said:
"People say I was a silent Prime Minister. I think these volumes speak for themselves. I would certainly like to say that I was not the prime minister who was afraid of talking to the press – I met the press regularly, and on every foreign trip I undertook, I had a press conference in the plane, or immediately after landing. So there are a large number of those press conferences whose results are also described (in the book)."
It is not possible to discuss Manmohan Singh's achievements as India's Prime Minister because the list is a bit long. However, let's talk about some of his most notable ground-breaking contributions, they include implementing transformative economic reforms, achieving a GDP growth rate of 10.03 per cent in 2010-11, implementing the Right to Information Act, negotiating the India-US civil nuclear agreement, and building strong ties with Russia, the USA, China, and Pakistan.
On May 30, 2024, a letter was released in which Manmohan Singh criticised India's current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for using hate speeches during his election campaigns. The ex-PM labelled PM Modi as the first Indian Prime Minister to lower the gravity of the PM office. Manmohan Singh also allegedly lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party for making false statements about him. He said:
"Modi ji has indulged in the most vicious form of hate speeches, which are purely divisive in nature. Modi ji is the first prime minister to lower the dignity of public discourse, and thereby the gravity of the office of the prime minister. He has also attributed some false statements to me. I have never in my life singled out one community from the other. That is the sole copyright of the BJP."
What are your thoughts on Manmohan Singh's legacy as India's Finance Minister and Prime Minister? Let us know.
Also Read: Who Is Manmohan Singh's Wife, Gursharan? Offered Daily Prayers At Gurudwara For Husband's Wellbeing
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