Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said that as the PM he was not afraid of talking to the press.
While speaking at the launch of his book ‘Changing India’, he said “People say I was a silent Prime Minister. I think these volumes speak for themselves. I wasn’t the PM who was afraid of talking to the press. I met press regularly & on every foreign trip I undertook, I had a press conference on return,” he said.
I was not the Prime Minister who was afraid of talking to the press: Former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh at the launch of his book, Changing India. pic.twitter.com/3Y3c2Z4EUT
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 19, 2018
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“People say I was accidental Prime Minister, I was also accidental Finance Minister,” he added, in a light-hearted manner, referring to the time when he was appointed as the Finance Minister in the govt led by PV Narasimha Rao.
#WATCH: Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh speaks of the time he was appointed as the Finance Minister in the govt led by PV Narasimha Rao, says “People say I was accidental Prime Minister, I was also accidental Finance Minister”. pic.twitter.com/HVJyOoAZEa
— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2018
The Former prime minister also stated that the difference of opinions between RBI and the government must be resolved in a manner that the two institutions work in harmony.
“The strong, independent Reserve Bank of India has to work in close cooperation with the central govt. So I do hope & pray that Reserve Bank & the Govt of India would find ways and means to work in harmony with each other,” he said.
Expressing his thoughts on the farm loan waiver in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, he said, ” We have to honour that commitment, that is a part of the election manifesto of the states which went to polls. So the Chief Ministers have announced that.”
A set of five volumes, ‘Changing India’ details his life as an economist along with his 10-year period as the Prime minister of India.