History will indeed remember Manmohan Singh kindly as most consequential PM: Sonia Gandhi
Days after the Supreme Court gave former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a clean chit in the coal block allocation case, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on
Days after the Supreme Court gave former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a clean chit in the coal block allocation case, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday (August 11, 2026) said his record of integrity and accountability stood in stark contrast to the way the Narendra Modi government has operated. She said history would indeed remember Singh kindly as a quiet, gentle, but most consequential Prime Minister. Also read | Supreme Court closes coal block allocation case against former PM Manmohan Singh In a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ms. Gandhi said since he is these days "forgiving" India's students for attacking him, perhaps he can take this opportunity to forgive himself for his undignified slander against Singh. The Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson said the judgment brings to a conclusion one of the most tragic arcs of our public discourse — "the witch-hunt against Dr. Singh, a man of the most remarkable probity and integrity." "The lobby against him was coordinated and well-organised, with actors stretching from the bureaucracy to the media, the judiciary, civil society, and most certainly to the RSS and BJP. Today, their bogus crusade has come to its inevitable conclusion of nothingness. Dr. Singh has been vindicated on every count," Ms. Gandhi said in her article published in The Indian Express. "The date July 29, 2026, was an important but unacknowledged day in our recent political history as in a remarkable judgment, the Supreme Court upheld the CBI's clean chit to Dr. Manmohan Singh in the alleged coal block allocation scam,” Ms. Gandhi said.
“More importantly, it pulled up the trial court for rejecting the CBI's closure reports and making adverse observations against the former prime minister for no 'compelling reason’,” she pointed out. Singh's record of integrity and accountability stands in stark contrast to how the Narendra Modi government has operated, so clearly and grossly misusing agencies designed to investigate crime and corruption like the ED and the CBI, she said. "Its purpose has been to exert pressure on politicians. Leaders are either silenced through coercion or cynically folded into the BJP or, in some remarkable instances, rewarded with ministerial positions as well. "When credible accusations of corruption emerge, the Modi government simply brushes them aside. Corrupt when you're in the Opposition, suddenly clean when you jump ship!" Ms. Gandhi said. It is not a coincidence that Modi was also among the most vocal proponents of the attack on Singh, she said. "His snide and atrocious remarks in the Rajya Sabha on February 8, 2017, that only Dr. Singh knew 'the art of bathing with a raincoat on', will go down as the lowest point of our parliamentary history," she said. Since Mr. Modi is these days "forgiving" India's students for attacking him, perhaps he can take this opportunity to forgive himself for his "undignified slander" against Singh, she said. "Introspection, like charity, must begin from home. Ultimately, the attack on Dr. Singh was motivated by a desperate desire to shift the public conversation and narrative away from his outstanding governance record," she said.
The BriefWire