P Chidambaram Mourns Manmohan Singh

“It is a deeply emotional moment for me to speak about Dr Manmohan Singh,” said Mr Chidambaram, who was a Minister in the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance or the UPA.

Manmohan Singh, ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’, died on Thursday due to age-related medical conditions, said the All India Institute of Medical Sciences or AIIMS. He was 92. 

“The life and work of Dr Manmohan Singh and the period from 1991 till 2014 will be a golden chapter in the history of India. I worked closely with him for many years. I have not met a person more humble and self-effacing than Dr Singh. He wore his scholarship lightly and never claimed credit for any of his historic achievements.” said Mr Chidambaram, now a Rajya Sabha member.

Mr Singh, who was finance minister under the then prime minister PV Narasimha Rao (1991-1996), was the architect and the brainchild of economic reforms in 1991 that pulled India from the brink of bankruptcy and ushered in an era of economic liberalisation that is widely believed to have changed the course of India’s economic trajectory.

“The story of India turned after Dr Singh became Finance Minister. And the present middle class of India was virtually the creation of his policies as Finance Minister and Prime Minister,” said Mr Chidambaram, adding while the former Prime Minister’s policies were liberal and progressive, he never forgot the poor. 

Manmohan Singh is survived by wife Gurcharan Singh and three daughters.