Former Prime Minister and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh has retired from the Indian parliament’s upper house, the Rajya Sabha. He has served for over three decades. In a letter, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge paid tribute to Singh’s accomplishments and legacy. He also praised his implementation of economic policies that promoted the country’s prosperity. Kharge called Singh a hero to the middle class, a leader and mentor to business owners and industrialists, and a helper to the underprivileged. Singh was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in October 1991 and served six terms until his retirement. Despite personal inconveniences, Singh remained available for the Congress during the past few years, according to Kharge.
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Kharge also praised Singh for implementing economic policies that benefited large industries, young entrepreneurs, small businesses, the salaried class, and the poor. Singh’s policies lifted 27 crore people out of poverty, the highest number of poor people in the country. The MGNREGA scheme, which Singh’s government launched, continues to provide relief to rural workers. Kharge highlighted Singh’s efforts to sign the US-India nuclear deal, which the Left parties stopped supporting in 2008.
Kharge also expressed that India misses the quiet yet strong dignity that Singh brought to the Prime Minister’s office. He further added that the current set of leaders, who have reaped the benefits of Singh’s policies, seem to speak ill of him and make personal attacks against him.
Kharge stated that Singh’s work to ensure the direct transfer of benefits to individual beneficiaries by creating zero balance accounts and unique identification of the beneficiary through Aadhaar was hijacked by the succeeding government, without giving Singh credit. In some cases, the good work initiated by Singh seems to be slowly undone.
Other Aspects
Singh was the Opposition Leader in the Rajya Sabha from 1998 to 2004. He joined the Rajya Sabha after serving as the Rao government’s finance minister. Singh continued to serve in the Rajya Sabha despite a failed bid to win a seat in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections from South Delhi. He was there defeated by BJP candidate Vijay Kumar Malhotra.
The BJP has accused Singh of leading a corrupt government numerous times and referred to him as “MaunMohan Singh”. There are claims that he remained silent about dishonest cabinet members. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has praised Singh’s position in the upper chamber and declared that his accomplishments will live on. Additionally, Modi stated that Singh occasionally used a wheelchair to cast his ballot to support democracy.
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