Manmohan ends script, to step down as PM after LS polls
'Done my best, Rahul as PM, Modi disastrous'
Source: The Sangai Express / Ajith Vijay Kumar (Zee Media)

New Delhi, January 03 2014 : In what was probably his last press conference before his second term as Prime Minister ends in a few months from now, Dr Manmohan Singh on Friday defended the UPA government's track record saying that he has done as best as he could and rooted for Rahul Gandhi as the Congress' PM candidate for the Lok Sabha polls.

The Prime Minister also used strong words against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi saying that his elevation as prime minister would be "disastrous for the country" .

The 81-year-old leader minced no words when he made it clear that he would not seek a third term as prime minister and said that it is for the historians to judge his 10 years as Prime Minister, saying that history would be kinder to him than contemporary media and the opposition parties in Parliament.

The over 75-minute long press conference, his third as PM, was held at the National Media Centre in the national capital.

Will hand over the baton in 2014 .

"In a few months time, after the general election, I will hand the baton over to a new Prime Minister," the PM said, adding,"I will not be a candidate for Prime Ministership if the UPA comes back to power.

"I hope it will be a UPA chosen Prime Minister, and our party will work to that end in the campaign for the general elections," he said.

"I am confident that the new generation of our leaders will also guide this great Nation successfully through the uncharted and uncertain waters of global change," he added.

"I still have not thought through what I will do after my tenure ends as Prime Minister," he said.

Rahul Gandhi has outstanding credentials .

Manmohan Singh backed the voices within the Congress to name Rahul Gandhi as party's Prime Ministerial candidate.

"Rahul Gandhi has outstanding credentials to be nominated as the (Prime Ministerial) candidate, and I hope our party will take that decision at the appropriate time" .

To another question, he said: "I have always felt that our Government would have been strengthened if Rahul had been part of our Government, but Rahul felt he had responsibilities to the party which did not permit him to join the Government and I respect that" .

Narendra Modi as PM will be disastrous for the country .

A usually reticent Manmohan Singh came out strongly against Narendra Modi.

"Without discussing the merits of Narendra Modi, I sincerely believe that it will be disastrous for the country to have Modi as the PM," he said in response to a question posed by Zee News.

"If you measure the strength of Prime Minister by presiding over mass massacre of innocent citizens on streets of Ahmedabad, then I do not believe in it," the PM said.

On Modi's dream of becoming PM, he said, "I sincerely believe what Narendra Modi is saying is not going to materialise" .

I have served as best I could .

Manmohan Singh said he had enjoyed his work in the last 10 years, and that he never felt like quitting.

"I have served the country with utmost dedication and integrity.

I have never used my office to enrich my friends or relatives," he said.

"I do not believe that I have been a weak Prime Minister ....

I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or for that matter the Opposition in Parliament....

Given the political compulsions, I have done the best I could do...I have done as well as I could do according to the circumstances...It is for history to judge what I have done or what I have not done," he said.

On Sonia Gandhi .

"Mrs.Gandhi's support has been enormous, especially in dealing with complex issues," PM said, adding "Believe that an arrangement where Congress President & PM are not the same person has worked tremendously well" .

In reply to another question, he said, "It is not a disadvantage or drawback to make corrections on the direction of party leadership in National interest.

"Nobody (in Congress) has asked me to step down because of any inadequacies as Prime Minister," he added.

Corruption and price rise .

Describing corruption as a "monster", Manmohan Singh insisted that dealing with it was no easy task.

"Dealing with corruption not an easy process.

All parties must collectively grapple with it.

Various political parties have to work together to deal with this monster.

This is not a matter which only one party can accomplish," he said.

Defending the Government, he said, "Corruption charges against Government relate to UPA-I and people of the country have not heeded to those charges and given us a second term.

"On corruption charges the Opposition had vested interest and media, CAG and other entities played on it some times.

It was in fact I who insisted on transparency in coal block allocation," he said.

A candid Manmohan Singh also admitted that the one-year-old Aam Aadmi Party was able to take power in Delhi by articulating people's concerns over corruption.

"Whether they will succeed or not, only time will tell," he opined.

On the issue of price rise, Manmohan Singh said that, while the Government could have done better to deal with the problem but there were also a number of reasons for it which were not in Government's control.

However, he admitted that rising prices of essential commodities was a major reason why the Congress lost elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

"I will be honest enough to say that price rise was a factor in people turning against the Congress," he said.

"We will reflect on the results of Assembly elections and learn appropriate lessons," he stressed.

"My best moment as PM was when we struck a nuclear deal with the US," he said.

My two terms have displayed the Congress' ability to run a coalition Government.

Compromises were made in peripheral issues and not on national problems," he said.

"Will endeavour to create an atmosphere to pass five-six anti-corruption Bills in Parliament," he added.

"I regret that the benefits of implementation of Sachar Committee recommendations could not reach all people, he said.

Dr Singh also spoke on the 1984 riots.

He said, "I have publicly apologised to the Sikh community on behalf of the Government.

What happened in 1984 should have never happened" .

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