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'Judge me by my work...I'm wiser'
The Prime Minister spoke about several issues during a press conference.
"Judge me by what my government does and not by what other politicians say of me," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh quipped.
"I don't want to be judged by what (Bharatiya Janata Party leader) LK Advani says but by whatever my government has done for the people of India," Manmohan Singh asserted with a smile during his press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday.
He was responding to a question on how he felt at being described as the country's "weakest" Prime Minister. Advani had used the term during a BJP meeting in Mumbai in December.
"I have done nothing to deserve these epithets. Whether I am the weakest Prime Minister or not should be judged by my action," he said.
True to the saying once bitten, twice shy, the PM refrained from rating the performance of his government on a scale of one to 10.
"Last time, when I made a comment, I was largely criticised by our own party people. This time I am wiser," he said when asked whether there was any change from his earlier rating of six out of 10.
Addressing a press conference in 2004, the Prime Minister had given a rating of six out of 10 on the performance of his government.
"It is for you people to tell how well we have fared," Singh said.
"The proof of the pudding is in the eating," the Prime Minister contended, holding that for the first time in India's history, a 10 per cent growth rate was a "distinct possibility".
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Many moods of Manmohan at the press conference |
"Look at our economic growth rate. For the last three years, it has been between seven and 7.5 per cent and we are inching to eight per cent.
"Our savings (rate) are at a record 29 per cent and can go up by another four per cent. Once that happens, 10 per cent growth rate is a distinct possibility," the Prime Minister said.
