Birthday Special: he/she became Prime Minister twice without contesting elections, even his/her opponents are impressed by his/her simple nature, no one becomes ‘Manmohan’ just like that

New Delhi: Today is the birthday of former Prime Minister of India and senior Congress leader Dr. Manmohan Singh. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to all the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, everyone wished him/her on his/her birthday. Dr. Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister of the country for 10 consecutive years from 2004 to 2014. Before this, he/she was also the Finance Minister of India. Dr. Manmohan Singh is considered the father of major economic reforms in India.

PM Modi congratulated

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Dr. Manmohan Singh on his/her birthday. PM Modi posted on Instagram and said, ‘Heartiest birthday wishes to former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, I wish him/her good health and long life.’

Apart from this, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also congratulated him/her. Rahul tweeted, ‘Happy Birthday to Dr. Manmohan Singh. Your humility, wisdom and selfless service in shaping the future of our country will continue to inspire me and millions of Indians. I wish you good health.’

Manmohan Singh is known for his/her calm nature

Dr. Manmohan Singh is known for his/her calm and simple nature. This is the reason why even his/her political opponents in his/her party respect him/her. Even though Manmohan Singh is calm and speaks less, people still remember the incident when there was a poetry recitation between him/her and BJP’s senior leader Sushma Swaraj in the Parliament. Both the leaders replied to each other through poetry. During the discussion in the Parliament, former PM Manmohan Singh targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party and read the famous couplet of Mirza Ghalib, ‘Humko unse wafa ki hai ummeed, jo nahin jaante wafa kya hai’. However, in response to this, Sushma Swaraj also replied to him/her through poetry.

he/she was the governor of RBI before entering politics

In the government of former PM Rajiv Gandhi, he/she also held the post of head of the Indian Planning Commission from 1985 to 1987. he/she also worked with the United Nations. Apart from this, he/she was also the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from 1982 to 1985. During this time, he/she made many reforms in the banking sector. For which he/she is remembered even today.

From 1987 to 1990, Dr. Manmohan Singh served as the Secretary General of the South Commission at the United Nations. Manmohan Singh was elected a Rajya Sabha member from Assam in 1991. he/she was again a member of the Upper House in 1995, 2001, 2007 and 2013. From 1998 to 2004, when the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in power at the Centre, Manmohan Singh was the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

Record of becoming PM from Rajya Sabha

In 1999, he/she contested the elections from South Delhi, but could not win. The interesting thing is that Congress fought the 2009 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Manmohan Singh. But, he/she himself did not contest the elections. he/she also holds the record of becoming the Prime Minister while being a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Important role in economic reforms

Dr. Manmohan Singh played an important role in the economic reforms in the country. he/she was also the Finance Minister in PV Narasimha Rao’s government in the year 1991. he/she made many announcements related to liberalization, privatization and globalization during the budget, which gave new momentum to the country’s economy. Manmohan Singh was awarded India’s second highest civilian honor Padma Vibhushan in the year 1987. Apart from this, he/she has been honored with many awards like Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress in 1995, Asia Money Award for the best Finance Minister of the year in 1993, Adam Smith Award of Cambridge University in 1956. Along with this, he/she was given honorary degrees by many universities including Cambridge and Oxford University.

Manmohan Singh was born on 26 September 1932 in the Punjab province of Pakistan in undivided India. he/she completed his/her education from Punjab University and Cambridge University in Britain. After this, he/she also did D. Phil in Economics from Oxford University in 1962.

(With agency inputs)