Lok Sabha polls: Modi indulged in most vicious form of hate speeches, says ex-Indian PM Manmohan Singh

Former Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh accused current PM Narendra Modi of indulging in the most vicious form of hate speeches, which are purely divisive in nature. With just one phase of voting left for the Lok Sabha elections, Dr Singh addressed a letter to the voters in the Indian state of Punjab. In the letter, which was shared by the Congress on X on Thursday (May 30), Singh said, "Modi is the first prime minister to lower the dignity of public discourse, and thereby the gravity of the office of the PM.

"No prime minister in the past has uttered such hateful, unparliamentary and coarse terms, meant to target either a specific section of the society or the opposition," Singh said, adding, that Modi attributed false statements to him.

Modi had accused Singh of saying that Muslims have the first right to the country’s resources.

"I have never in my life singled out one community from the other. That is the sole copyright of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)," Singh said.

'BJP left no stone unturned in castigating Punjab'

Singh further said in his letter that in the last 10 years, the BJP left no stone unturned in "castigating Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiyat." Talking about the 2020-2021 farmers' protest against the Centre's farm laws which have now been scrapped, Singh said that most of the farmers who died belonged to Punjab.

"As if the lathis and the rubber bullets were not enough, none less than the Prime Minister verbally assaulted our farmers by calling them "Andolanjeevis" and "Parjeevi" (Parasites) on the floor of the Parliament," the former prime minister added.

"Their only demand was the withdrawal of the three farm laws imposed on them without consulting them,” he further said and pointed out that Modi's policies in the last 10 years eroded the earnings of farmers.

The former PM further appealed to Punjab's voters to vote for the Congress.

"Only the Congress can ensure a growth-oriented progressive future, where democracy and the Constitution shall be safeguarded.'

(With inputs from agencies)