'I wasn't afraid of talking to the press': Manmohan Singh takes a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Manmohan Singh on Tuesday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he “wasn’t the PM who was afraid of talking to the press.” “People say I was a silent prime minister. I think these volumes (his book ‘Changing India’) speak for themselves. I wasn’t the PM who was afraid of talking to the press. I met press regularly and on every foreign trip that I undertook. I had a press conference on return in the plane,” News18 quoted the former prime minister as saying. [caption id=“attachment_5153351” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of former prime minister Manmohan Singh. PTI[/caption] Manmohan was speaking at the launch of his six-volume series of books entitled ‘Changing India’ in New Delhi. The former prime minister also said that the relationship between the government and the RBI is like of “husband-wife” and the difference of opinions must be resolved in a manner that the two institutions work in harmony. The comments came against the backdrop of Urjit Patel resigning as RBI governor earlier this month amid a tussle between the central bank and the finance ministry on matters ranging from the appropriate size of reserves the central bank must hold to the easing of lending norms for sectors such as small and medium enterprises. “Whosoever is Governor of RBI, I wish him well,” he added. The former prime minister and Rajya Sabha member further said “we need” a strong and independent RBI which has to work in close cooperation with the central government. “I do hope and pray that the government and the RBI find a way to work together,” he added. On questions related to farm loan waivers announced by the new governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Singh said “we have to honour” the commitment that is part of the election manifesto which went to polls. With inputs from PTI