NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued his acrid attack on the Opposition inside Parliament for the second day. His target on Wednesday was former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Even as he claimed that the fight against black money was not political or targeted at any particular party, he tore into the Congress and took on Manmohan Singh for criticising demonetisation.
“There were many scams around him, but his own image remained clean. Doctor saab (Manmohan Singh) alone knows the art of taking a bath wearing a raincoat,” he said.
The comments provoked the Congress members to stage a walkout. Members of Left, Trinamool Congress and JD(U) also staged a walkout. Manmohan Singh refused to react and said “I do not wish to comment.” However, senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram slammed Modi’s remarks. “It is unbecoming of a Prime Minister to use such language against a former PM. No PM in the past has made such comments about a former PM.”
Targeting Singh, Modi claimed that the former Prime Minister had dominated the country’s financial affairs for more than 35 years, during which several scams had taken place. “We politicians have a lot to learn from Doctor Sahab. So much happened, but there is not a single blot on him,” he said.
“If you cross the limits of decorum, then you should have the courage to listen to the response,” the Prime Minister told the angry Congress leaders even as they staged a walkout. “We have the capacity to pay in the same coin.”