‘History will remember Manmohan Singh kindly’: Sonia Gandhi on SC clean chit
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's record of integrity and accountability stands in stark contrast to the functioning of the Narendra Modi government. Her remarks came days after the Supreme Court closed the coal block allocation case against Singh, giving him a clean chit.
In an article published in The Indian Express, Gandhi, who is the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, said history would remember Singh as a “quiet, gentle, but most consequential Prime Minister”. She described the case as one of the “most tragic arcs of our public discourse” and a “witch-hunt” against a man of “remarkable probity and integrity”.
The Supreme Court, on July 29, 2026, upheld the Central Bureau of Investigation's closure report in the alleged coal scam case and pulled up the trial court for making adverse observations against the former Prime Minister without any “compelling reason”. Gandhi called the judgment an important but unacknowledged day in recent political history.
Gandhi accused the Modi government of misusing agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI to exert pressure on politicians. She claimed that leaders were either silenced through coercion or “cynically folded into the BJP”. She alleged that the government ignored corruption accusations against its own allies while targeting Opposition leaders.
She also referred to Prime Minister Modi's remarks in the Rajya Sabha in 2017, when he mocked Singh for knowing “the art of bathing with a raincoat on”. Gandhi termed this the “lowest point of our parliamentary history”. She suggested that since Modi was “forgiving” students who attacked him during protests, he should also forgive himself for his “undignified slander” against Singh.
Gandhi highlighted the achievements of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government under Singh, including high economic growth, the Right to Education Act, and the expansion of social justice. She said the 10 years of UPA rule saw higher growth than the past 12 years, pulling millions out of poverty.
The Congress leader's remarks are part of a continuing political debate over the legacy of Manmohan Singh and the use of investigation agencies. The Supreme Court's ruling has been welcomed by the Congress as a vindication of Singh's integrity. The Bharatiya Janata Party has not yet issued an official response to Gandhi's article.
