A day after an embarrassed Congress was at a loss to explain former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi sought to change the narrative.
Going into damage control mode on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Modi, stating that the Prime Minister had called his predecessor for a meeting on Wednesday to take lessons on how to run the country’s economy.
Addressing the national convention of the party’s student wing, the National Students Union of India, the Congress vice president remarked, "After our former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh criticised the state of the country’s economy in the morning, Modi invited him for lessons…perhaps he wanted to understand how the economy functions. I will ask Dr Singh.”
Rahul Gandhi’s seemingly passing reference to the Modi-Manmohan Singh meeting was clearly meant to deflect attention from the swirling speculation about their discussion.
Awkward timing
The timing of the meeting was particularly galling for the Congress because Singh had criticised the Modi government barely hours before the two leaders were photographed shaking hands at the Prime Minister’s Race Course Road residence. Irate Congress leaders felt that the meeting could dilute the party’s campaign against the Modi government, especially since it has been resonating with the people.
Not only did the meeting take place after Manmohan Singh hit out at the ruling alliance for its handling of the economy, it also came a day after former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Pradip Baijal alleged that the former Prime Minister had warned him of dire consequences if he failed to cooperate on the first-come first-served policy on allocation of 2G spectrum.
Speaking out on Wednesday for the first time since the Modi government came to power a year ago, Singh helped the Congress seize the initiative and set the agenda with his hard-hitting speech at the NSUI convention. The former prime minister critiqued the state of the economy and questioned the Modi government’s claims of improved growth rate and containing inflation.
“Institutions of democracy are under threat," he said. “The entire edifice of the welfare state is now being dismantled in the guise of promoting faster economic growth.” Rural India, he maintained, was under acute distress and economic recovery was "fragile".
Singh had also used the occasion to put the record straight on the persistent charges of corruption levelled against his government. "I have not used my public office to enrich myself, to enrich my family or my friends,” he said. “The BJP government keeps on harping on this theme of corruption because it wants to divert people's attention to non-issues."
The former Prime Minister’s aggressive speech dominated the headlines for most part of the day but the script changed dramatically by the evening when the Prime Minister’s Office put out a statement about Modi’s meeting with his predecessor, describing it as a courtesy call. It also said that the Prime Minister had invited Manmohan Singh to discuss the economy and foreign policy issues.
Modi was also quick to tweet their photo, stating, "Very happy to meet Dr. Manmohan Singh ji & welcome him back to 7RCR. We had a great meeting."
Some embarrassment
The Congress was clearly unware of this meeting. There was a flurry of activity as embarrassed party leaders could offer no explanations about why Manmohan Singh had chosen to meet his successor hours after attacking him.
Frantic phone calls were made and hours later, Manmohan Singh’s office put out a statement at the behest of the Congress. "At the invitation of PM Modi, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh met the Prime Minister today... they discussed the economic situation in the country and foreign policy issues," it said.
The Congress was particularly keen to clarify that it was Modi who had extended the invitation to Manmohan Singh.
The party was not enthused with the explanation from Manmohan Singh’s office that the former Prime Minister thought it would be rude to refuse an invitation from his successor. Congress leaders maintained that Singh need not have met Modi the same day that he had hit out at him, since this helped the BJP leader win the perception battle.
It was against this backdrop that Rahul Gandhi stepped in to salvage the situation. He used his address at the NSUI convention to give a new spin to the Modi-Manmohan Singh meeting with the specific purpose of bolstering the morale of party cadres who were not sure how to interpret this interaction.
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Going into damage control mode on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Modi, stating that the Prime Minister had called his predecessor for a meeting on Wednesday to take lessons on how to run the country’s economy.
Addressing the national convention of the party’s student wing, the National Students Union of India, the Congress vice president remarked, "After our former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh criticised the state of the country’s economy in the morning, Modi invited him for lessons…perhaps he wanted to understand how the economy functions. I will ask Dr Singh.”
Rahul Gandhi’s seemingly passing reference to the Modi-Manmohan Singh meeting was clearly meant to deflect attention from the swirling speculation about their discussion.
Awkward timing
The timing of the meeting was particularly galling for the Congress because Singh had criticised the Modi government barely hours before the two leaders were photographed shaking hands at the Prime Minister’s Race Course Road residence. Irate Congress leaders felt that the meeting could dilute the party’s campaign against the Modi government, especially since it has been resonating with the people.
Not only did the meeting take place after Manmohan Singh hit out at the ruling alliance for its handling of the economy, it also came a day after former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Pradip Baijal alleged that the former Prime Minister had warned him of dire consequences if he failed to cooperate on the first-come first-served policy on allocation of 2G spectrum.
Speaking out on Wednesday for the first time since the Modi government came to power a year ago, Singh helped the Congress seize the initiative and set the agenda with his hard-hitting speech at the NSUI convention. The former prime minister critiqued the state of the economy and questioned the Modi government’s claims of improved growth rate and containing inflation.
“Institutions of democracy are under threat," he said. “The entire edifice of the welfare state is now being dismantled in the guise of promoting faster economic growth.” Rural India, he maintained, was under acute distress and economic recovery was "fragile".
Singh had also used the occasion to put the record straight on the persistent charges of corruption levelled against his government. "I have not used my public office to enrich myself, to enrich my family or my friends,” he said. “The BJP government keeps on harping on this theme of corruption because it wants to divert people's attention to non-issues."
The former Prime Minister’s aggressive speech dominated the headlines for most part of the day but the script changed dramatically by the evening when the Prime Minister’s Office put out a statement about Modi’s meeting with his predecessor, describing it as a courtesy call. It also said that the Prime Minister had invited Manmohan Singh to discuss the economy and foreign policy issues.
Modi was also quick to tweet their photo, stating, "Very happy to meet Dr. Manmohan Singh ji & welcome him back to 7RCR. We had a great meeting."
Some embarrassment
The Congress was clearly unware of this meeting. There was a flurry of activity as embarrassed party leaders could offer no explanations about why Manmohan Singh had chosen to meet his successor hours after attacking him.
Frantic phone calls were made and hours later, Manmohan Singh’s office put out a statement at the behest of the Congress. "At the invitation of PM Modi, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh met the Prime Minister today... they discussed the economic situation in the country and foreign policy issues," it said.
The Congress was particularly keen to clarify that it was Modi who had extended the invitation to Manmohan Singh.
The party was not enthused with the explanation from Manmohan Singh’s office that the former Prime Minister thought it would be rude to refuse an invitation from his successor. Congress leaders maintained that Singh need not have met Modi the same day that he had hit out at him, since this helped the BJP leader win the perception battle.
It was against this backdrop that Rahul Gandhi stepped in to salvage the situation. He used his address at the NSUI convention to give a new spin to the Modi-Manmohan Singh meeting with the specific purpose of bolstering the morale of party cadres who were not sure how to interpret this interaction.