Amid a barrage of criticism from the Opposition about the propriety of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “raincoat” remark against his predecessor Manmohan Singh, the BJP escalated its attack on the former PM, asserting that he will be called to account for the scams that took place during the UPA’s tenure under his watch.

The ruling party, however, shied away from suggesting that there will be legal proceedings against Manmohan on the ground that it does not “believe in a witch-hunt”.

BJP president Amit Shah declared in a public rally in New Tehri, Uttarakhand, that there was nothing wrong with the PM’s comment on Manmohan. “Modiji said nothing wrong. The onus for scams worth ₹12 lakh crore during UPA does rest on the Congress and the former PM,” he said.

Many members of the Union Cabinet joined Shah in his condemnation of the Congress and Manmohan. Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu asked the Congress to apologise to the PM for all the abuses it has heaped on hi.. “They should say sorry for disrespecting the PM and Parliament,” he said.

Following Modi’s declaration in the Lok Sabha that “I have decided to play in your field”, the BJP was intent on pursuing a belligerent line of attack on Manmohan.

No witch-hunt

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was fielded in the BJP headquarters to assert that the former PM “will be held accountable for the scams that took place under him”.

He, however, said his government doesn’t believe in “witch-hunt”, and since trials over different scams under Manmohan are already under way, “the BJP will not interfere with the judicial process”.

Same coin

Prasad, however, carried forward the PM’s warning that the BJP has the “capacity to reply in the same coin” to Manmohan. The Congress leader’s barb that demonetisation was “organised loot and legalised plunder” seems to have clearly hit home in the ruling establishment. So the Law Minister tore into the former PM.

“Manmohan Singh has his uses for the (Gandhi-Nehru) family. I feel sorry for him sometimes. Even when he was PM, he could not save his guru, Narasimha Rao, from humiliation. Rao’s body was not allowed to be placed in the Congress office and he was not allowed to be cremated in Delhi. But he has uses, as I said. Manmohan Singh’s alleged credibility was abused by the Congress dynasty to promote corruption and loot,” said Prasad.

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