Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017: Congress never honoured Manmohan Singh, now forcing him to make political statements, says Kiren Rijiju

NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Sunday ridiculed the Congress for 'using' Ex-prime minister Manmohan Singh to attack the BJP, saying that the party is forcing him to make political statements.

Rijiju claimed the Congress Party had never honoured Singh, who is also an eminent economist, but used him as a bait to make corrupt deals.

“Why Congress (is) forcing Manmohan to make political statements? They did all the corruptions under him yet never honored him as PM,” Rijiju said.

The BJP leader's remarks come after Singh on Friday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his “unsound” economic decisions, mainly demonitisation.

He also mocked the PM for referring to his 'humble background' at political rallies so people take a pity on him on the basis of his past.

"I don't want the country to take a pity on the basis of my humble background. I do not think I would like to enter into any competition with Prime Minister ModiJi on this particular matter," Singh said at a rally in Surat on Friday.

He also criticised the Modi-led government over demonetisation and other schemes, claiming the people have faced a lot of hardships because of that.

"I invoke memories of more than 100 people who lost their lives while standing in queues as a result of demonetisation.

“I say with immense pain and a sense of deep responsibility that the November 8 was a black day for our economy and democracy," he said.

He also said it was too early to conclude that the economic slowdown has reversed as the 6.3 per cent growth rate in the July-Sep quarter did not take into account the SME sector which suffered huge losses due to demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST.