They may have crossed swords on several occasions over a variety of issues, but senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley today praised Manmohan Singh, saying the Prime Minister’s personal integrity was always above board.

He also termed him as a syana aadmi or a wise man, saying with an element of scholarship, he was always well read and well prepared on any subject.

While Singh is the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, Jaitley is the Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House.

Jaitley said as curtains draw to a close after a 10-year-long period of providing leadership to the government, the PM “goes out with dignity and grace”.

“He will remain an elder statesman and a man of credibility…Only if he had stood up at the right time and disagreed he would have been regarded with still a greater honour,” he wrote on his blog.

He said Singh became a Prime Minister on account of certain circumstances which compelled Congress President Sonia Gandhi to withdraw her name from the reckoning.

“He was literally a Prime Minister announced by Sonia ji. He had to function within that limitation,” he said

“When he addressed the country, he never came out as a leader. The reason for not coming out as a leader was clear. He never wanted to rock the boat.

“He knew that he was vested with limited power and on all major decisions he had to keep the party and its first family in good humour,” Jaitley wrote.

He further said Singh has two strong qualities. “Firstly, whenever you discussed a serious subject with the Prime Minister he came out as a man of scholarship. He was what we call to as a syana aadmi .”

Singh’s words, Jaitley said, were measured and he would reflect before making a comment. “Secondly, his personal integrity was always above board.”

‘PM will be scapegoat’ With exit polls projecting a majority for the BJP-led NDA, the BJP took pot-shots at the Congress, saying it will now find a scapegoat in the PM in its attempt to save Sonia and Rahul Gandhi from criticism.

An upbeat BJP claimed it will do better than what the exit polls have predicted, stressing that the NDA will cross the 300-seat mark.

“The Congress mantra is to blame others in case of something bad while giving credit to the Congress President and Vice-President. The PM will be blamed. There will be talk of collective responsibility,” said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.

Singh, he said, was only occupying the chair but did not have power which was wielded by the Gandhis. Javadekar also said the NDA will surpass the exit polls’ average tally of 270-275.

Related Topics