‘Maun-Mohan’, Night Watchman to ‘shining example’: PM Modi on Manmohan Singh over the years

Amid proceedings in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised several people in both the Treasury benches and the Opposition when he thanked outgoing Rajya Sabha MP Manmohan Singh, his predecessor, for “guiding the House” and the country. Calling Singh a “shining example” of what an MP should be, Modi said the former PM even came to the Upper House in “a wheelchair to help strengthen democracy”.

However, over the years, Modi and Singh have often taken on each other over issues of policy and political ideology, making highly critical remarks about each other.

Narendra Modi on Manmohan Singh

Modi consistently hit out at Singh in the lead-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when he was pitching himself as a prime ministerial candidate.

At a rally in October 2012, when he was the Gujarat CM, Modi called Singh“Maun (silent)” Mohan Singh. Referring to a speech the then PM made in Una, Modi said: “Aaaj ki sabse badhi khabar hai ki Maun Mohan Singh ne apana maun tod diya (Today’s biggest news is that ‘Maun-Mohan’ Singh broke his silence).”

Almost a year later, in March 2013, while speaking at the BJP National Council meeting in New Delhi, Modi called Singh a “night watchman”. He told his BJP colleagues, “They appointed a night watchman by naming Manmohan Singh as PM. The PM is nothing but a puppet of the Gandhi family.”

The following month, addressing BJP workers in Kolkata, Modi said Singh was not accepted as a leader in the Congress. “If you ask 100 Congress workers as to who their leader is, no one will name Manmohan Singhji, irrespective of him being the Prime Minister…How can such a prime minister lead a nation?” he asked.

Remarks of such nature continued over the years.

In February 2017, speaking in the