Manmohan Singh attacks Modi govt, says 'institutions of democracy are under threat'

NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday unleashed an offensive against the Modi government and tried to come clean on allegations made by former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradip Baijal in the 2G case. "I have not used public office to enrich myself, family or friends," former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said accusing the BJP of harping on corruption to divert people's attention to non-issues. In a scathing attack, Manmohan Singh said that institutions of democracy are under threat and the entire edifice of the welfare state is now being dismantled in the guise of promoting faster economic growth. Speaking at NSUI national convention, Manmohan Singh denied the corruption charges made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the previous UPA governments. "We had launched many new programmes and new schemes. We had put in place many new policies," Manmohan Singh said. Asserting that many of UPA's programmes were being repackaged and marketed as initiatives of the BJP government, Singh said, "What the BJP had opposed when we were in power are now being sold as its contribution". "All is not well on the economy front," the former PM said, adding, 'there is a 'fragileness' in economic recovery under the present government." "Talk of policy paralysis is untrue, when our government left, India was the second fastest growing economy," Manmohan Singh said. "The past is continuously being rewritten to promote a highly biased and communal view. Dissent is being suppressed," Manmohan Singh said. TOI