Friday, January 3, 2014

Manmohan Singh Live: PM’s press conference was a farce, says Arun Jaitley

3:35 pm: Singh's press conference was only about announcing retirement, says Jaitley

BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the prime reason for the Prime Minister holding a press conference seemed to be the fact that he wanted to announce his retirement.

"We wish him good health and a long life after many years of public service," Jaitley said.

Jaitley said that apart from the announcement that Singh wouldn't contest in 2014 was a formality and a farce.

"He admits his government failed to curb corruption, failed to check unemployment and it failed to contain inflation," Jaitley said.

He said that this proved the government is complete failure but Singh kept looking for reasons to prove his government had done well during its tenure.

2.21 pm: PM to hold a press conference every month?

Sources have told CNN-IBN that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to hold a press conference every month until the upcoming Lok Sabha elections which have to be held by May.

Singh, at a press conference today, highlighted the achievements of the 10-year UPA government and said he will not be in the race for prime minister.

 

 

1:35 pm: PM's right about Modi, Congress won't benefit from his speaking, says JD(U)

Shivanand Tiwari is quite certain that the Prime Minister may have spoken well but it won't do the Congress any good in the upcoming elections.

However, he agreed with the PM on Modi.

"PM's views on Modi are shared by a lot of people in the country," Tiwari told ANI.

1:20 pm: Twitter reactions after the PM's speech

 

 

 

 

 

1:15 pm: Khurshid welcomes PM's comments on Modi

The External Affairs Minister said that the UPA government would attempt to complete in the next few months everything it had promised voters.

"We are thankful PM has expressed on a pan-India stage what we felt for a long time (on Modi)," Khurshid told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

1:00 pm: BJP hits back

Even as the Prime Minister was speaking,the BJP had already begun to hit back on Twitter over his statements particularly on its Prime Ministerial candidate. (read more about that here).

After the press conference it was the turn of the party president Rajnath Singh to hit back at Singh over his statements on the economy.

"The PM could not control, inflation or corruption or generate employment," he said.

He also said that under the UPA government income and economic disparity had grown seven fold.

The BJP president went on to attack the Prime Minister over the fact that he did not speak on national security during his speech.

"He did not address steps to boost internal, external security," he said.

And as expected he batted for Modi.

"Despite court giving Modi a clean chit, it's unfortunate that PM made such comments on him," Singh said, adding that the Gujarat Chief Minister had made the state an ideal one in the country.

12.15 pm: Modi's dreams won't materialise

About 75 minutes after he started, the PM leaves with press conference, but not without one more barb at Narendra Modi. Asked whether he believes that Modi will become prime minister on the back of a huge wave of support for him,  the prime minister says, "I sincerely believe that what Mr Narendra Modi is saying is not going to materialise. "

12.09 pm: 'Don't believe Congress overruling govt is bad'

Decisions made in 10, Janpath and then announced in PMO -- that question was referring to the recent incidents in which Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi overruled, rather publicly, the government's decision on an issue. The prime minister plays defensively -- "I don't think it is wrong or disadvantageous to make corrections in decisions of the government if these are for the good of the people."

While the overruling of the UPA Ordinance on protecting tainted and convicted politicians was a direct affront on the PM, Singh says people's perception of his image is not something he can speculate on. He wants us to believe that it is an achievement for the UPA to have just completed its second term. "There have been some compromises," he concedes, adding that these were not serious.

There is more work to be done too, the PM says: Healthcare for children, women, the National Rural Health Mission -- "a lot more needs to be done" on these, according to Dr Singh.

11.59 am: All parties have to deal with the corruption monster together

The questions on AAP have been pointed -- will it be a factor in 2014, will the AAP factor hurt the Congress further? "Corruption is an issue and AAP has been able to make a success of their concern for eradication of corruption," says the PM. "Whether they will succeed or not, only time will tell. Dealing with corruption is not an easy process. .. we must collectively grapple with the task of dealing with corruption. This is not a matter that only one party can accomplish. Various parties have to work together to deal with this monster," he says.

Asked about his highest and lowest moments as PM, Singh says he would need time to reflect upon that. "But certainly, the best moment was when we signed the nuclear deal with the United States and ended the nuclear apartheid that sought to stifle social and economic growth and technical progress in our country in many ways." In fact, the missing "n-deal moment" in UPA 2 has often been called the PM's biggest failure in UPA 2, a sign of his inability to continue to impress upon the party his complete and unquestioned leadership, something that was on show during the signing of the nuclear deal.

11.51 am: Rahul could have strengthened government

"I have always felt that the government would be strengthened if Rahul Gandhi joins the government. But Rahul felt he has responsibilities to the party that did not allow him to join the government. "

11.49 am: On Pak visit: Circumstances were never appropriate

It's well known that the village Dr Singh was born in now lies in Pakistan. I have thought about visiting Pakistan often, the prime minister says. "But every time I thought about it, the circumstances were not appropriate for me to go," he says, hinting that the cross-border terrorism and the continued infiltrations were taken seriously at the highest level.  "I have not lost hope," he says. "I still hope to go before my tenure as PM ends."

11.43 am:  'Dual power centre was never a problem'

Asked if this system has worked or has perhaps limited his ability to show results, Dr Singh says he "sincerely believes" that the arrangement has worked. "The arrangement where the Congress president and the prime minister are not the same person, in the circumstances, has worked exceedingly well. For me, it is a remarkable achievement that I have been able to finish 10 years as PM without any hiccups in the relationship with Mrs Gandhi with the office of the PM or the government."

He goes on to add that Sonia Gandhi's assistance has in fact been key to many decisions that he has take. "She was there to back me up," he says.

11.31 am: "Modi as PM will be disastrous for India"

The prime minister has said this government will come out unscathed when history is written, but what about his colleagues? The prime minister has been unable to  reign in his Cabinet colleagues despite serious allegations of abuse of power, having instead gone back to core groups, the high command, and others. "History will be kinder to me than the contemporary media," the prime minister says to a few laughs.

Asked about Modi, the prime minister makes his strongest statement yet: "I have full confidence that the next PM will be from the UPA coalition. It will be disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as prime minister. "

11.30 am: On being a silent PM 

"I have spoken whenever necessary. I have spoken at the Congress fora. And I will continue to do so."

One more question follows on the same trajectory -- has Dr Singh lost sight of the popular appreciation for the fact that an economist had become prime minister. "I am the same person as I was nine years ago. There has been no change. I have tried to serve this country with utmost dedication, commitment and integrity... I have never used my office to enrich myself or friends or relatives. "

11.25 am: Price rise definitely a factor in the Assembly polls defeat

The loss at the Assembly elections must have had some impact on the Congress party's thinking about the last leg before the big elections of 2014. Will there be a rush of freebies and populist measures with elections coming up -- diesel prices not being increased, for example?

"I would not like to speculate.. but will be honest enough to say that it could be that the price rise was a factor in the people's turning against the Congress party and I have expained the reasons... there were reasons beyond our control." International commodities' prices, oil prices, to cite a few.

"We have taken enough measures to protect the weaker sections against rising prices -- PDS has been stabilised, prices in PDS have not been increased since 2003. What's more, through MGNREGA, we have ensured that rural wages are indexed at the rate of inflation. This is a measure of protection for these segments of our society," says the PM.

11.25 am: "Never felt like resigning."

The PM says he has enjoyed his tenure, despite the challenges. "I never felt like resigning at any time. I have enjoyed doing my work. I have tried to do it without regard for fear or favour."

11.20 am: "I am the one who insisted that spectrum must be auctioned"

The first aggressive question comes: HAs your image as a clean PM not been hit by the series of scams? The PM takes that on his chin. The allegations of scams  mostly pertain to the period of UPA 1. The people of India have voted the UPA back to power. "The People of India do not seem to have taken heed to the allegations of corruption against me or the party."

Asked specifically about spectrum allocation and the CWG scam, Dr Singh says, "I was the one who insisted that spectrum should be auctioned."

When history of the period is written, we will come out unscathed, says the prime minister. "This is not to say there were no irregularities. But the dimensions of the problem have been overstated by the media and by other entities. "

11.15 am: PM announces he will retire after 2014 elections

Having stated the UPA's commitment to fighting corruption, citing the Right to Information, the prime minister announces his retirement, to come after 2014 elections. "I will hand over the baton to a new prime minister. I hope it will be a UPA prime minister," he says.

11.13 am: Employment in manufacturing could have grown faster

The first sound of a warning comes in the field of manufacturing -- not enough growth in employment in the manufacturing sector, he says. We need stronger efforts in supporting SMEs for good quality employment, he adds.

11.10 am: "Agricultural growth excellent, educational landscape transformed"

India, says the PM, has become one of the largest producers of foodgrain, poultry and fish. Real consumption per capita has risen four times faster, the percentage of population below the poverty line has fallen much faster than in the 10 years preceding 2004-2011.  The total number of people living below the poverty line has  come down by 13.8 crore, he says.

On education, Dr Singh, who has himself been a beneficiary of public scholarships, says, "I take great pride in saying we have transformed the educational landscape of the city. Through  Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, new universitiesm, new industrial training centres, all of these have enabled flowering of enterprise in skill-building.

11.00 am: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives, will read out an opening statement. 

Set for better times, a better growth cycle soon. With those promises, the prime minister sets the tone for what could be a candid chat. "Our party did not do well," he concedes about the just-concluded Assembly elections that saw record turnout of voters. "We welcome the extent of participation and will reflect on what the results tell us for the future and learn appropriate lessons," he says.

The slowdown in India was part of a global event. Let's not dwell too long on the short term ups and downs, he suggests.

10:55 am: Stage set for the Prime Minister's press conference

The stage is now set for the Prime Minister, who CNN-IBN's Rajdeep Sardesai says is a 'tragic hero', to address the media shortly and though no surprises are expected one cannot but be a little curious about what he's going to talk about.

He has promised to answer all questions. Let's see what happens.

9:30 am: Twitter abuzz ahead of Manmohan Singh's press conference

With the hype around this press conference, we turned to Twitter to see the reactions to the Prime Minister's press conference.

There's already a Twitter handle called @AskPMOIndia where you can send your questions for the PM but its not very clear how it will be asked of him.

Here are some of the reactions of some prominent Twiterati to the impending event:

 

 

 

 

7:30 am: Manmohan Singh to address first press conference of 2014

If there's one thing that the nation knows about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh it is that he is a man of few words. Most loquacious when flying back into India when he's returning from a foreign trip, Singh keeps his interactions with the press to a bare minimum and with the public restricted to televised speeches (and not all of those have gone smoothly either).

The numbers bear testimony to this. This press conference will be only the second during Singh's second term as Prime Minister. It will be only his third full-fledged press conference in the entire 10 years that he has been the Prime Minister.

So when coming to the end of a ten year term, possibly his last stint in national politics, Singh's announcement that he would be addressing a press conference just three days into the new year has expectedly been met with a lot of speculation.

Can he salvage anything with this press conference? PTI

Can he salvage anything with this press conference? PTI

Will he resign? No, said his office. Will Rahul Gandhi be made the Prime Minister to get a few months in the chair to motivate him for the national elections and get him some responsibility to show off? Unlikely, and it would be a really bad gamble.

So what do we expect? Singh is likely to focus on how the government, despite the claims of the opposition, met economic challenges head on and managed to achieve a modicum of success. The Prime Minister in all likelihood will deny the claims of policy paralysis and will give us numbers to show otherwise. He could blame Europe for the nation's economic woes like he has been for the past few months and could also face some questions on the Congress showing in the recent Assembly elections.

He will endorse Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the philosophy of the Congress. In all likelihood he will have something to say about everything BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has been saying, and about the BJP that has blocked Parliamentary proceedings and stalled crucial legislation. It's unlikely to be complimentary but then Singh is not a man of harsh words.

There won't be anything groundbreaking and if anything may be a defence that has come too late. But it will be good to hear the Prime Minister at least take some of these inconvenient questions for a change, rather than staying away from them.


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