A new book reveals that Atal Bihari Vajpayee rejected an offer to become President of India, a move that would have made Lal Krishna Advani Prime Minister. Vajpayee believed that a sitting PM becoming President would set a bad precedent for Indian democracy.
The Left parties attacked the government's policies and said the country was heading towards an economic emergency.
Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, in his latest book, argues that Pranab Mukherjee should have been made Prime Minister in 2012 instead of Manmohan Singh, who was then recovering from health issues. Aiyar believes this would have prevented the "paralysis of governance" and "doomed" any prospects the Congress might have had to form UPA-III. He also criticizes the government's handling of the Anna Hazare-led agitation and the Commonwealth Games scandal, which he believes contributed to the party's downfall in the 2014 general elections.
'While it may not be an out-and-out hit job on the Gandhi family, the movie is all about one aspect: How Dr Singh struggled with the family and the party all through his prime ministership,' notes Utkarsh Mishra.
He dismissed as "hollow claim" Prime Minister Narendra "Modi's propaganda" that things have started looking up
Sanjaya Baru, Manmohan Singh's former media advisor and author if The Accidental Prime Minister defends his controversial memoir
'The critical event signalling a new era for India was Dr Singh's 1991 Budget in which he quoted Victor Hugo to say that no power on earth could stop an idea whose time has come,' recalls T N Ninan.
Attacking the Congress, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that India has "paid a heavy price" for the sins committed by the Congress while Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has accused the Oppostion party of "mishandling" the situation after the 2011 terror attacks in Mumbai in under foreign pressure.
The village of Gah in Pakistan is mourning the death of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was born there. Villagers are remembering Singh's rise to prominence and the impact it had on their community. They are also hoping that someone from his family will visit the village to pay their respects.
The comprehensive Senate immigration reform legislation, America Inc thinks, will adversely affect Indian IT companies and will have an inimical spillover impact on American firms too.
Singh's humility and grounded nature were highlighted in a heartfelt social media memoir by Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Social Welfare (Independent Charge) Asim Arun.
'Mrs Gandhi had nothing to do in the day-to-day working of Dr Singh's government.' 'People say Mrs Gandhi's office used to give orders, which is nonsense.'
Manmohan Singh represented the finest aspects of India, asserts Aakar Patel.
The world, the United States in particular, is lucky to have Manmohan Singh as the Indian Prime Minister who has taken personal risk to avoid confrontation along the western border despite provocations, former US National Security Advisor Gen (retd) James Jones said.
'All the big things happening today in economic development have their beginning in Dr Manmohan Singh's ideas.'
Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said the G7 Summit of the presidents of the US and France; the prime ministers of the UK, Japan, Italy and Canada; and the Chancellor of Germany is taking place in Kananaskis in Alberta, Canada, from June 15.
Modi, while speaking at a poll rally in Gujarat on Sunday, had sought to link the dinner meeting hosted by Aiyar for Pakistani dignitaries and attended by Manmohan Singh, among others, with the ongoing assembly polls and a conspiracy against the BJP.
This has been our history of good governance: Things that were difficult to do and required planning and implementation were first taken up and then abandoned, notes Aaakr Patel.
'He will be remembered more for what he did as finance minister -- as someone who functioned well when the political fallout was taken care of.'
The India-US nuclear deal was aimed at ending India's nuclear isolation and nuclear apartheid, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
'I want to ask the entire nation and the opposition. Can a Chief Minister, Prime Minister, or any leader run the country from jail?'
In a significant move, the United States on Wednesday removed restrictions on three Indian nuclear entities, over a week after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced that Washington was finalising steps to 'remove' hurdles for civil nuclear partnership between Indian and American firms.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
Ex TRAI chief says Manmohan Singh warned him of harm on 2G issue
A change in recommendation in favour of Birla did certainly happen but the question is whether it was a bona fide decision. Jyoti Mukul reports
'The demise of #ManmohanSingh ji who (looking back) presided over India's actual 'Acchey Din' feels like the end of an era when India was actually (more) democratic, when Indians were free(er) of fear & intolerance and when Indian public discourse had more decency.'
Former RA&W chief A S Dulat, who served as Atalji's adviser on Kashmir, gives us an insider's glimpse of a prime minister he has hailed as the 'greatest after Nehru'.
Three 35,000-scholarships set up in honour of the Prime Minister of India exclusively for Indian students to read for PhD & MPhil degrees in science, technology and social sciences at the St John's College, University of Cambridge.
In an hour-long video released by the Congress on Monday, Gandhi said India's largest and complex democracy is a global asset, and the "assault" on the Indian democratic system is also an attack on the global democratic system.
Like Nehru, Modi is loathe to touch the public sector. His policy towards Israel leans towards 'non-alignment'. You can find other similarities: frequent public speeches, personalised leadership, total control over foreign and strategic policies, even stylised dressing, says Shekhar Gupta.
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
He allegedly advanced the cut-off date to favour accused firms in allocation of 2G licences.
Dr Manmohan Singh first embossed himself on the national consciousness when as India's finance minister he flagged off economic reforms which changed this nation forever.
While China is bigger and feels mightier at the moment, Beijing's rulers would be well advised not to be tempted to provoke India, for that would only trigger a chain reaction around the world that would not serve anyone's interests, says Sanjaya Baru.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will create history when he addresses the People's Majlis -- the 77-member Maldivian Parliament -- sometime on Saturday after 11.45 am local time (IST 12.15 pm). He will be the first head of state to have addressed the Majlis in its 78-year-old existence. Majlis Speaker Abdullah Nashid had formally invited the Indian prime minister to address the Majlis during the latter's visit to attend the 17th SAARC Summit that concluded on Friday.
Dhurandhar's most dangerous idea is that Director Aditya Dhar envisions an Indian state run by a deep state -- an intelligence machinery not accountable to Parliament, courts, or voters. A future political system where unelected officials decide when Indian democracy is 'fit' to function, observes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'The UPA's claim of growth at 9.5 percent was absolute nonsense and a fraudulent claim because the country did not grow; it was only statistical growth.' 'I do believe that when there is a determined leader who wants to bring a desired change, the system will begin acting. Today, people think there is policy paralysis, but there is functional paralysis also.' 'When things start moving, people will invest. Many companies are holding cash, many people are not investing. Nobody is making any move. Everybody is waiting for the elections to get over.' Economist and Swadeshi Jagran Manch convenor Swaminathan Gurumurthy in conversation with Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
'The sense of Constitutional propriety and political morality seems to be vanishing fast.' 'There are many things in today's politics of governance which Manmohan Singh would have never dreamt of saying or doing.'
Congress leader Udit Raj criticized party colleague Shashi Tharoor for his reported remarks that India breached the Line of Control (LoC) for the first time during the 2016 surgical strike on a terror base, saying he should be declared a "super spokesperson of the BJP". Raj argued that India had crossed the LoC in 1965 and 1971, and that the UPA government had also conducted surgical strikes. Tharoor had reportedly said that India breaching the LoC to conduct a surgical strike was "something we had not done before". This is not the first time Raj has criticized Tharoor for his comments on India-Pakistan relations. Last month, Raj had hit out at Tharoor for his reported "no country has 100-per cent foolproof intelligence" remarks, questioning how Tharoor could be giving the BJP a "clean chit" on the Pahalgam terror attack. Tharoor had hit back at Raj, saying the latter is a former BJP MP and "is better qualified to understand who speaks for the BJP".
22 images that captures glimpses of a most unusual Indian who led the nation for 10 years.
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