In late November 2016, a few short weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 would be devalued, former PM Manmohan Singh criticised the move with uncharacteristic vehemence, terming it “organised loot and legalised plunder”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally hit back on Wednesday, defending his government’s demonetisation move before going on to make castigate Singh, stating, “Only Manmohan Singhji knows the art of how to take a shower with his raincoat on.”
The comment proved to be the last straw for the members of the Indian National Congress party. What had been stray murmurs and shouts quickly turned into pandemonium before members of the INC stage a walkout en masse (video above).
In the rest of this address, which was conducted to a sea of empty seats, Modi sidestepped the deaths caused by demonetisation and the economic hardships faced by many. Instead, he claimed there was widespread support from ordinary people for all of the government’s policies, from demonetisation to the Swachh Bharat mission.
The video below is of the full speech. The contentious comment and the walkout take place around the 20-minute mark.
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