Former PM Manmohan Singh asks MLAs to instill confidence among people with their leadership

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday exhorted Rajasthan legislators to instill confidence among people with their leadership and said they count on their leaders to ensure that the politics of fear does not prevail over the politics of hope.

He was speaking at the concluding session of the orientation of the Rajasthan Assembly members.

"A few days ago, a distinguished academician pointed out that there are dangers that politics of fear may take over politics of hope. People depend upon legislators to ensure that the politics of fear does not prevail over the politics of hope, which this country needs," Singh said.

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The Former Prime Minister also said that a legislator should have the habit of listening to others, particularly, if they happen to be opponents. Singh said he was pained at some instances of unruly behavior by legislators in some state assemblies. 

Suggesting that the content and quality of debates should be of a high order:

"Proceedings of Parliament and many state assemblies are now being telecast live. It is regrettable that sometimes legislators indulge in unruly behaviour which pains me a lot. Such incidents create a wrong impression for the younger generation," he said.

He said that the country's basic problems are poverty and diseases which afflict millions of people.

"You, as legislators, know the problem in the first instance. Therefore, it should be your priority to instill confidence among the people that they are under your distinguished leadership which will allow them to lead a life of happiness," he said.

"I am extremely optimistic about our future as a nation. I ask that we continue our journey on the path of democracy by imbibing the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who said 'I hope that we shall look into the future with a stout heart and with confidence in ourselves," Singh added. 

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He also stressed that MLAs should fully utilize local area funds for the development of their constituencies. Referring to media reports on CAG findings, he said that a large share of local area funds remained unutilized in Rajasthan from 2011 to 2016. He said the money should be utilized for promotion of infrastructure and construction of schools and hospitals which can be beneficial to a large number of people. 

The former PM Singh said cooperation and consensus hold the key to success in a democratic system of governance. He said the government, as well as the opposition, should have a broader perspective regarding the exigencies the state has to deal with and they should cooperate with each other irrespective of political affiliations. He also added that members of the house should show utmost respect to the presiding officer and added that it was important for them to be well acquainted with rules, procedures, the conduct of business and customs of the assembly if they wanted to become effective at their work. The former Prime Minister praised the state, saying that the reason Rajasthan was agriculturally, industrially and educationally developed, it was because of the high quality of its political leadership and administrative machinery.

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Meanwhile, in the same event, Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot, in his address, mentioned Singh's contribution as finance minister and later as prime minister towards the economic reforms in the country. In a series of tweetes he said: 

"Manmohan Singh Ji, as Finance Minister, started liberalization for the first time since Independence, which opened the way for the development of the country. Even the developed nations, during the time of recession, were under the draundres of former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Because of Singh's economy, India remained untouched by the recession."

"The people of the country got the right to information, right to education, MGNREGA and the right to food in the form of food security. In a parliamentary democracy, Dr. ManmohanSingh The long-term experience of Ji should be taken advantage of by all the MLAs so that they can play their role in establishing good governance." Ghelot said.