Manmohan Singh’s best-ever speech

He left govt nonplussed on demonetisation issue

By all yardsticks, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivered his career best political speech last week in Rajya Sabha on November 24 on demonetisation. He stunned the ruling party as well as his own Congress members. Few would have imagined that Dr Singh would speak like this. But he spoke defying all estimates, surprisingly..

His famous words like “monumental mismanagement,” “organised loot” and “legalised plunder” have echoed in news channels and public domain for days after he spoke. Every other critic of scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes used his estimate of a possible dip in GDP by 2 per cent. His quote of free market exponent and leading economist JM Keynes - “In the long run, all of us are dead” – did it all.

Dr Singh’s speech, to be precise, 6.15 minutes, and in text, 696 words – has captivated the entire nation like never before. It created so much discomfiture for Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he left the House immediately after the former PM’s speech. Don’t forget, Dr Singh delivered his speech looking straight into the eyes of Modi, that too extempore.

Of course, BJP ministers and spokespersons derided Dr Singh, saying that he just read out a script prepared by Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi. And that he must be having expertise in “organised loot” and “legalised plunder” as they had mostly taken place during his tenure between 2004 and 2014. Well, none was able to counter Dr Singh on demonetisation.

None of the defendants of demonetisation could explain the exact dip in economy – whether it is 2 per cent or less or more. NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy, on a show of Karan Thapar on India Today, too couldn’t explain the quantum of loss to the GDP due to big notes ban. In a way, Dr Singh carried a surgical attack on the Modi government, if not any.

I have been following him for the last 12 plus years since he became a surprise PM in 2004. Perhaps, he was never taken seriously by his own party members, leave alone by the opposition. He stood up to a cause of defending India’s civilian nuclear deal with the US in 2008. But, he never gave great speeches in Parliament then.

It is easy to ridicule Dr Singh who has earned nicknames like “Mouni Baba” and “His Master’s Voice” when he was the PM. May be true. It is also true that Rahul Gandhi had publicly humiliated him by tearing an ordinance approved by Dr Singh’s cabinet to save MPs with criminal cases from disqualification. But, Congress leaders too must have hung their heads in shame of their past behavior.

We should not forget that Dr Singh was a bright student of economics from Punjab University in early 1950s and did his masters from Cambridge in 1962 and later D Phil in economics from Oxford University, before occupying several key positions in India, including UGC Chairman, Planning Commission Deputy Chair, Economic Adviser to PM, RBI Governor and Finance Minister till 1991.

Dr Singh was never carried away by emotions while delivering his speech in RS. He simply urged PM Modi to explain how he wanted to mitigate the difficulties of people due to big notes cancellation. Dr Singh rightly said that in no other evolved democracy, people were never disallowed to draw their own money from banks, let alone ATMs. And why as many as 65 people had to die in queues before banks and ATMs, he asked.

Obviously there are no answers. What surprised many is the brilliant speaker in Dr Singh who can be an asset to the opposition in the country. With a single speech, Dr Singh has refurbished his image in public life. I only wish he had delivered a speech like this when he was the PM for a decade. Anyway, thanks and congratulations to Dr Manmohan Singh for your passionate speech! (ramakrishnasangem.blogspot.in)

By Rama Krishna Sangem