Former prime minister Manmohan Singh is likely to retire from public life after a five-decade-long storied career, people aware of the matter said on Thursday, adding that the 91-year-old leader’s frail health had rendered discharging his duties as a parliamentarian very difficult.
Singh, who has been a member of the Upper House since 1991, has been unable to attend a single day of Parliament’s Budget session this year and his last appearance in the House at the start of the Winter session for a single day. “He is mentally well, but finds it difficult to move,” said an aide, requesting anonymity. “His return to the Rajya Sabha is out of the question.
Singh, whose term as a Rajya Sabha member is scheduled to end in April, sent a letter to the chairperson of the House, expressing his inability to attend a dinner for the retiring members. He was also unable to be a part of the group photograph that captured the batch of lawmakers who became members of the Upper House in August 2019. “As a wheelchair user, he needs more than one person to accompany him when he attends the House,’’ said the aide quoted above, adding that the layout of the new Parliament and security concerns also made his attendance tricky.
The Congress’s chief spokesperson Jairam Ramesh paid tribute to Singh in a post on X. “Dr. Manmohan Singh said: 1. History will be kinder to me. 2. It will be disastrous for the country to have Shri Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister. Both statements have been proved right today,’” Ramesh said.
