The famous five speeches by "silent" PM

New Delhi, Sept 26: Why Prime Minister

does not speak? Is he in some "maun vrat" (the vow of silence)? Or, is he scared to speak and address the nation which is asking him a million questions at a time when the country is facing crises on many fronts? On his 80th birthday on Wednesday, Sept 26,

brings to its readers some rare occasions when Manmohan Singh broke his silence and spoke eloquently, breaking from his stereotype image of being a "weak and meek" PM.

September 21, 2012: Television viewers were confused whether to laugh or agree with Manmohan Singh when he made a very "obvious" statement that "Paise Ped Pe nahin lagte (Money does not grow on trees)" to soothe the frayed nerves of aam aadmi reeling under the burden of price rise. But, political observers welcomed his address to the nation and said PM's speech was the need of the hour. "Better late than never" was how everyone reacted to Manmohan Singh's speech. However, his hardcore critics felt that he should not have taken so long to greet Indians. Critics say Manmohan Singh spoke only after Congress-led UPA government's main ally Trinamool Congress (TMC) withdrew its support from the Centre over the diesel price hike, LPG cap and FDI in retail.

August 27, 2012: "Hazaaron jawaabon se acchi hai meri khaamoshi. Na Jaane kitne sawaalon ki aabroo rakhi (My silence is better than a thousand words. I have saved the sanctity of many questions)", said Manmohan Singh while addressing the media outside the Parliament in the wake of CAG's allegations of mis-allocation of coal blocks.

"It has been my general practice not to respond to motivated criticism directed personally at me."

But country men demanded a convincing answer from the PM, not some shayari (poetry) to explain his role in multi-crore Coalgate scam.

August 15, 2011: "Corruption manifests itself in many forms. In some instances, funds meant for schemes for the welfare of the common man end up in the pocket of government officials. In some other instances government discretion is used to favour a selected few. There are also cases where government contracts are wrongfully awarded to the wrong people. We cannot let such activities continue unchecked."

This is how Manmohan Singh tried to save his face in the aftermath of nation wide campaign against corruption-led by activist Anna Hazare and his team members. Singh made the statement during his Independence Day speech from the historic Red Fort in New Delhi.

Corruption is one the biggest issues UPA-II is trying hard to get rid-of as many of its ministers are charged for being involved in one or other scams.

July 22, 2008: "The Leader of Opposition, Shri LK Advani has chosen to use all manner of abusive objectives to describe my performance. He has described me as the weakest Prime Minister, a nikamma PM, and of having devalued the office of PM. To fulfill his ambitions, he has made at least three attempts to topple our government. But on each occasion his astrologers have misled him. This pattern, I am sure, will be repeated today. At his ripe old age, I do not expect Shri Advani to change his thinking. But for his sake and India's sake, I urge him at least to change his astrologers so that he gets more accurate predictions of things to come."

The above speech by Manmohan Singh was perhaps one of his strongest replies to his detractors. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani will be left wondering, if Manmohan Singh is really "weak" as accused by him earlier.

July 24, 1991: This is Manmohan Singh's most famous speech when he was Finance Minister. He paraphrased Victor Hugo when he presented the Budget to Parliament, "No power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come."

The country demands Manmohan Singh to address its citizens on a frequent basis. All they hope is that, Manmohan Singh, on this (birthday) occasion, should take a resolution to speak on a regular basis on issues pertaining to the nation, and won't further confuse voters with his trademark silence.

OneIndia News