Modi, Manmohan fight turns ugly: ‘Awkward’ namaste, handshake fail to thaw the ice

After the recent exchange of barbs between the two politicians, the whole Modi-Manmohan equation has turned bitter and irreparable.

New Delhi, Dec 14: When small children fight, elders ask them to kiss and make up. With grown-ups things are a little complicated, as burying the hatchet is not so easy. It becomes more difficult when the two persons at loggerheads with each other are an incumbent Prime Minister and his predecessor.

On Wednesday, when PM Narendra Modi and former PM Manmohan Singh met outside Parliament to attend an event to mark the 2001 Parliament attack anniversary, the whole sombre atmosphere suddenly turned "awkward".

After the recent exchange of barbs between the two politicians, the whole Modi-Manmohan equation has turned bitter and irreparable.

The recent spat between the two was initiated by Modi. The PM alleged that Manmohan was a part of a conspiracy hatched by Pakistan along with several Congress leaders, diplomats, a former army chief and a former Vice President to influence the Gujarat Assembly elections.

Immediately after Modi accused his predecessor of being involved in "anti-national" activities, the otherwise soft-spoken Manmohan issued a strong statement against the PM and demanded an apology from him for the "baseless" allegations.

An apology did not come his way. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) further mounted pressure on the Congress by attacking the world-renowned economist-turned-politician by questioning his integrity as the PM after he allegedly decided not to conduct surgical strikes against Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

The BJP repeated its past charges against Manmohan of being a "silent observer" when the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was involved in a series of scams.

In a way, the BJP instead of pouncing on Congress president-elect Rahul Gandhi and his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi sharpened its knife to target Manmohan.

The former PM too has been frequently criticising the Modi government for its failure on the twin economic policies--the demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST)--termed as hasty and anti-people by critics.

So, the 'frontal attack' on Manmohan by Modi during an election rally in Gujarat recently did not surprise many. However, what jolted all is the nature of the allegation pertaining to "treason" against the former PM, who has always maintained integrity and propriety as a politician and an economist.

On Wednesday, when Modi and Manmohan came face to face, they did not ignore each other (that is what generally rivals do, but the two PMs, one incumbent and another former, can't enjoy such luxury in public life). They met and greeted each other with namastes and a handshake.

The stiffness in the body language of both the politicians and dispirited exchange of glances between them during their short meeting was enough to indicate that things have gone horribly wrong between the incumbent PM and his predecessor.

Soon after that "awkward" meeting, a video of Manmohan went viral where he was seen reading out his previous statement against Modi asking for apology over the Pakistan remark.

"I am deeply hurt by the falsehood being spread, everyone knows my track record," said Manmohan.

"Fearing imminent defeat in Gujarat, desperation of Prime Minister to hurl every abuse and latch on to every straw is palpable," said the 85-year-old Congress leader in the message released to TV stations.

"I am deeply pained and anguished by the falsehood and canards being spread to score political points in a lost cause by none less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said and demanded an apology.

The video statement by Manmohan further angered the BJP. The saffron party used a series of email exchanges to accuse the Gandhi family of interfering in the work of the previous UPA government and reducing then PM Manmohan to "just a titular head."

The ugly quarrel between Modi and Manmohan has taken place at a time when the BJP and the Congress are fighting a bitter fight to win the Gujarat Assembly elections.

It is not that Modi has attacked Manmohan for the first time. The PM often criticises his predecessor for the "mess" that the country has become currently.

Before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the then Gujarat chief minister infamously called the then PM as 'Maun(silent)mohan Singh' for his silence over various scams that rocked the second term of the UPA government at the Centre.

Will the frosty relationship between the two men reach some kind of an agreement in the future after the end of the Gujarat polls? Or was the recent spat between Modi and Manmohan is just a trailer?

Are we going to witness similar showdowns between the incumbent PM and the former PM ahead of the 2019 parliamentary elections?

OneIndia News