Last Updated:
Manmohan Singh Death News: Former PM addressed/ interacted with the Press 117 times during his 10 year tenure between 2004-14, a Congress leader said when critics labelled Singh as “silent PM”.
During the fag end of his tenure as prime minister, Manmohan Singh spoke up and declared he was not weak. (Credit: X | Rahul Gandhi)
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, known for his soft-spoken nature, was often labelled by critics as a “silent PM”. Defending his leadership style, Singh elaborated on how he meets the media regularly and often holds press conferences. He shared the details of these interactions in his book, ‘Changing India’.
“People say I was a silent Prime Minister. I think these volumes speak for themselves. I would certainly like to say that I was not the prime minister who was afraid of talking to the press – I met the press regularly, and on every foreign trip I undertook, I had a press conference in the plane, or immediately after landing. So there are a large number of those press conferences whose results are also described (in the book),” the former PM had said at the launch of ‘Changing India’ in 2018.
Former Union minister and Congress veteran Manish Tewari earlier this year gave details on the number of media interactions Manmohan Singh had held.
“Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh addressed/ interacted with the Press 117 times during his 10 year tenure between 2004-14,” he posted on X, giving out the break-up for 117 press conferences.
“Press Conferences by Dr Manmohan Singh 2004-2014: On foreign trips- 72, Annual Pressers – 10, Domestic/state visits- 23, Election/political/manifesto – 12,” Tewari wrote.
Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh addressed/ interacted with the Press 117 times during his 10 year tenure between 2004-14.Press Conferences by Dr Manmohan Singh 2004-2014:
On foreign trips- 72Annual Pressers – 10Domestic/state visits- 23Election/political/manifesto -… pic.twitter.com/F8ZjAiwRmn
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) January 3, 2024
Unassuming, erudite, soft-spoken and a consensus builder, Manmohan Singh died on Thursday night at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He was 92.
The Congress leader, who steered the country for 10 years from 2004-2014 and helped set up the country’s economic framework as finance minister before that, was a renowned name in the global financial and economic sectors.
At the 2018 book launch, Manmohan Singh also recalled how he became the finance minister by “accident”, at a time when critics referred him as “accidental prime minister”.
Singh said that the then prime minister, PV Narasimha Rao, wanted economist IG Patel for the post but with Patel unwilling to take up the job, it came to him. “People say I was an accidental Prime Minister, but I was also an accidental finance minister,” he said in a lighter vein.
During the fag end of his tenure as prime minister, when he was seen defending his government’s record and the Congress’ positions on controversial issues such as the 2G scam, Singh spoke up and declared he was not weak.
“I honestly hope history would be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the opposition parties in Parliament,” he had said famously in January 2004.
He even spoke about being called an “accidental” PM. In an interaction with a daily newspaper years after his term as the prime minister was over, Singh said, “I have nothing to be ashamed of about my prime ministership.”
