Manmohan opts out of PM race, says did his best, Modi as PM will be a disaster

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday virtually announced his retirement from politics as he ruled himself out of the 2014 prime minister's race and launched a scathing attack on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of presiding over the mass massacre during the 2002 riots in the state.

"I will continue till 2014 Lok Sabha elections. After that I will hand over the baton to other person," Manmohan Singh said in his first media interaction in almost four years while paving the way for Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to take over the baton from him, he said the MP from Amethi has excellent credentials to lead the country.

In his strongest ever attack on Modi, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, the Prime Minister said, "Without going into the credentials of anyone, I think it will be disastrous for the country to have Narendra Modi as the PM. Strong leader does not mean you preside over the mass massacre of people in Ahmedabad."

"What Narendra Modi is saying will not materialise," he added about Modi's Congress-free India campaign signalling that Congress would take the BJP leader head on during the Lok Sabha elections.

Defending the government on various scams, Manmohan Singh said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has done more than any other regime to bring in transparency in spectrum and coal block allocations. Holding up the UPA's economic record, he said growth was highest during his 10 year long tenure even though he admitted inflation, corruption could have been controlled better while his regime had not had much success in creating job in the country.

He defended himself over various charges that he has faced during his tenure as the PM and maintained that his government has not been at fault as much as the opposition parties and the media would like to project.

Trying to dodge questions on his performance as the Prime Minister, he said that he had done his best and it was in the hands of the historians to decide how his term has been. "I have done as far as I could. It is now for the historians to judge how I have done," he said.

Reflecting on his tenure in UPA-I and II, Singh said that his government had done all that it could for the country. "I have done my best. People doubted our ability to run a coalition government. We may have compromised sometime. But, we have done well," he said.

Singh expressed his belief that India was "set for better times" as the cycle of global economic growth was on the rise. He also blamed the media and the opposition for overtly focusing on the downs. "Economies have ups and downs, we should not focus overtly on the ups and downs," he said.

He also added that he was satisfied with the acceleration of growth in the country. "The acceleration of growth gives me satisfaction. We made growth process more inclusive than ever before. India saw growth to nine per cent in past nine years which is the highest in any 9-year period," he asserted.

Highlighting the positives of his regime, he noted that the agricultural growth had grown faster than ever before. The rural wages as well as the rural per capita expenditure had increased much faster than ever before. He also claimed that the number of people below poverty line had gone down during the UPA's regime. He also said that his government had been instrumental in passing several important laws despite Parliament hold ups.

However, he also accepted that the government had failed on counts like controlling corruption, inflation and generating jobs.

"We have not been as successful as we should have been in manufacturing sector, need to work in support of small and medium sector. We have not been successful in generating employment or in controlling inflation," adding that the UPA government is "deeply committed to fighting corruption".

Singh who has always faced criticisms of his lack of taking an initiative and has been blamed for his decisions to have come at the precinct of the Congress high command, he said that Congress President Sonia Gandhi had been a main reason because of which he complete 10 years as PM without any hiccups. "Sonia Gandhi has always backed me up in more than one way. For me Mrs Gandhi's support has been an enormous help in dealing with complex issues," he said.

In virtually his last speech as the Prime Minister, Singh recalled the nuclear deal with the United States of America as his best moment during the regime.