Didn't use public office for personal benefits: Manmohan

May 27, 2015 02:45 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 05:04 pm IST

The former Prime Minister said the NDA government was harping on the issue of "corruption" in the UPA era because it wanted to divert people's attention to non-issues. File photo.

The former Prime Minister said the NDA government was harping on the issue of "corruption" in the UPA era because it wanted to divert people's attention to non-issues. File photo.

Days after a >former head of India's telecom regulator alleged that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had threatened him with “harm” if he did not cooperate with policies that led to the multi-crore 2G scam, the veteran Congress leader denied that he had ever used public office for his own benefit.

“I can say in all humility that I’ve not used my public office to enrich myself, enrich my family or to enrich my friends," Dr. Singh said while addressing the national convention of the National Students’ Union of India in Delhi.

The NDA government, the former PM said, was harping on the issue of "corruption" in the UPA era because it wanted to divert people's attention to non-issues.

Dr. Singh, who was served a summons to appear in a Special Court in connection with the coal scam earlier this year, also took on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for misleading people by talking of a policy paralysis during Congress rule.

“Talk of policy paralysis is untrue. When our government left, India was the second fastest-growing economy. When we left office in 2014, in the past 10 years our economy grew at an average annual rate of 8.5%,” he stressed.

At a recent rally in Mathura to mark the NDA government's first year in power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had — as during last year’s election campaign — focussed on the UPA's policy paralysis and alleged corruption, asserting that his government had ushered in 'achche din’.

On the contrary, he said: “What the BJP had opposed when we were in power is now being sold as its contribution. Many of our programmes are now being repackaged and marketed as initiatives of the Modi government. But this doesn’t surprise us. This is the compliment BJP could pay to the constructive work done by the UPA government.”

Refuting the Modi government’s claims, Dr. Singh said there was a 'fragileness' in economic recovery under the NDA government. "We had launched many new programmes, new schemes. We had put in place many new policies. This had led to profound social transformation and unprecedented economic growth as well," he said.

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