Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who declared in January that he would not seek a third term, is likely to address the nation for the final time as premier after the election results are out on May 16. The speech will be pre-recorded at his residence and telecast on Doordarshan later the same day or on the next, according to PMO sources.
“There is no decision yet on when the speech will be telecast,” PMO sources told The Hindu .
Doordarshan has been sounded out in advance as there is no precedent of an outgoing Prime Minister making a televised farewell speech. Dr. Singh, the longest serving Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, is expected to not only showcase the achievements of his decade at the helm but possibly also respond to his detractors, who have billed him as the “
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With opinion polls and pre-poll surveys suggesting an electoral debacle for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, most political pundits have ruled out a third term for the current dispensation.