PM steps down

New Delhi: Bowing out of office after his 10-year tenure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday submitted his resignation to President Pranab Mukherjee. Ahead of his resignation, the Union Cabinet met for the last time, to recommend the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha. A resolution was also adopted, placing on record appreciation for the work done by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The President requested the Prime Minister to continue in office as Caretaker till alternative arrangements are made. In his last address to the nation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “As I leave office, my abiding memory will be the love and kindness that I have always received from you. I owe everything to this country, this great land of ours where I, an underprivileged child of Partition, was empowered enough to rise and occupy high office. It is both a debt that I will never be able to repay and a decoration that I will always wear with pride.”

Ten years ago, he said, when he was entrusted with this responsibility, he entered upon it with diligence as his tool, truth as his beacon and a prayer that he may always do the right thing. As he prepared to lay down office, he said he was aware that well before the final judgment from the Almighty, there is judgment in the court of public opinion that all elected officials and governments are required to submit themselves to.

The just-concluded elections, he said, have deepened the foundations of the democratic polity. “As I have said on many occasions, my life and tenure in public office are an open book. I have always tried to do my best in serving this great nation of ours,” he said. Defending his record in office, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in the last 10 years, the country has seen many successes and achievements that all should be proud of. India now is a far stronger country in every respect than it was a decade ago.

“I give credit for these successes to all of you. However, there is still vast latent development potential in our country and we must collectively work hard to realize it,” he said. The Prime Minister wished the incoming government every success as it embarks on its task and pray for even greater successes for the nation. Placing his confidence in the future of the country, he said he was confident about the future. “I firmly believe that the emergence of India as a major powerhouse of the evolving global economy is an idea whose time has come. Blending tradition with modernity and unity with diversity, this nation of ours can show the way forward to the world. Serving this nation has been my privilege. There is nothing more that I could ask for,” he added.