Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have wished his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, a happy birthday and prayed for his long life, but critics on Twitter used the occasion to hit out at the Modi government’s handling of the economy.
Dr. Singh’s 85th birthday started trending on Twitter as former Cabinet colleagues like Mamata Banerjee, Lalu Prasad, Manish Tewari and Praful Patel and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and other Congress leaders tweeted him birthday greetings.
Mr. Lalu Prasad was effusive in his praise as he described Dr. Singh as a “great economist, reformist and statesman”.
Soon his admirers and Congress supporters used the occasion to underscore the point that Dr. Singh was the one who ushered in economic reforms in 1991 and the economy grew close to 8%under his watch.
Several Twitter handles tagged Dr. Singh’s last year’s November 24 speech in Parliament that predicted a 2% drop in the GDP because of the note ban.
The government’s handling of the economy had been the subject of international publications as well. Financial Times said in a editorial, “Finally, the government needs to listen to its own economists. Mr. Modi is by his own admission an economic novice ... His predecessor, Manmohan Singh, was an economist and yet relied on the group for advice. There is a lesson there for Mr. Modi.”
Former Law Minister Kapil Sibal said, “People have realised they want a Prime Minister who they can trust. The present Prime Minister has betrayed their trust. He sold them a dream when he knew that he cannot deliver. What Dr. Singh promised, he honestly tried to deliver.”
BJP supporters made a counter-attack on social media by arguing that in the UPA regime, real power lay with the Congress president and not with the Prime Minister.