Saket Gokhale Profile picture
Sep 26, 2020 11 tweets 2 min read Read on X
Personal story of witnessing Dr. Manmohan Singh’s magic & charm:

It was the year 2010. I worked out of Singapore for the Financial Times and I decided to fly down to Kuala Lumpur along with a friend for the weekend.

(1/11)
Getting out of the airport and into the taxi, we were greeted by a strange sight.

The entire street was decked up with Indian flags.

For a second, we wondered if we’d gotten off the plane into the wrong country.

(2/11)
Later, a taxi driver said that this welcome had been planned for the visit of Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Coincidentally he was landing in the country the same day.

(3/11)
Wherever one went in KL, there was a huge buzz around his visit.

Brickfields, the Indian neighborhood, had been decorated in the tricolor. Dr. Singh visited “Little India” and interacted with the community.

It was all substance without any singing dancing tamasha.

(4/11)
Dr Singh spoke of how overseas Indians could participate in the growth of their India in his speech.

A stark contrast with Modi whose speeches revolve mostly around “how awesome I am” and how “everyone is now proud to be an Indian thanks to me”.

(5/11)
Dr. Singh’s interaction was positive and the object of adoration was the country rather than his own personality cult.

There were no paid crowds brought to cheer him.

And during this visit, a lot of business got done.

(6/11)
The launch of low-cost carrier Air Asia in India happened in the run-up to this visit.

Dr. Singh signed over 16 comprehensive agreements on trade and other issues with Malaysia without any drama or chest-thumping during his visit.

(7/11)
When I left the airport a week later, I felt a very proud of being an Indian.

The customs guys were extra friendly on seeing my blue (not saffron) passport. Without any drama or hugging and sans any megalomania, my Prime Minister made me feel proud.

(8/11)
That week was about India. It wasn’t about Dr. Manmohan Singh’s personality cult.

It was dignity and pride that cannot be bought through TV advertisements, grand shows, and expensive PR.

He didn’t need to wear suits with his name monogrammed on them.

(9/11)
Dr. Singh didn’t promote Gujarat, Punjab, or any other individual state.

For he was the PM of India. His knowledge and experience spoke for itself.

The advice of a simple man in a blue turban was greatly sought after by world leaders. It was pure substance.

(10/11)
History will always judge Dr. Manmohan Singh as one of the greatest PMs we had. His grace, his intelligence, and his humility are severely missed in the PMO today.

Thanks for your service to the nation sir. You’re the best we could’ve had.

#HappyBirthdayDrSingh

(11/11)

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Saket Gokhale

Saket Gokhale Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @SaketGokhale

Mar 13
Big exposé

How BJP is using proxy pages to run political ads worth CRORES targeting the Opposition & Facebook & ECI are openly allowing them.

Political advertising on social media has strict rules. However, this is how BJP is bypassing these rules using proxies 👇

(1/8)
ECI rules require political parties to disclose expenditure on political ads. Also FB has rules around political ads & requires "transparency" on the sponsor.

But BJP is funding several proxy pages to run ads targeting the Opposition & spending CRORES

Here's examples...

(2/8)
1. Meme Xpress

This is an FB page with ONLY 1700 followers

But, in JUST last 7 days, this page has spent 18 lacs on running pro-BJP filthy ads targeting the Opposition

The ads target TMC, INC, AAP, DMK, Shiv Sena & others & have been published with regional targeting

(3/8)


Image
Image
Image
Image
Read 8 tweets
Feb 14
The SHOCKING facts of PM Modi & BJP's LIES on "free Covid vaccines":

BJP have constantly said in election campaigns that "Modi gave free Covid vaccines to Indians".

But that is a LIE.

For Covid 19, Modi Govt borrowed a WHOPPING ₹73,384 crores from foreign banks.

Details 👇
Modi Govt borrowed a total of ₹73,384 crores from foreign banks & institutions between 2020-21 (in JUST 1 year) ONLY for Covid-19.

This includes:

ADB: ₹22,248 cr
AIB: ₹16,678 cr
IBRD: ₹11,748 cr
IDA: ₹7,938 cr
NDB: ₹14,772 cr

(1/4)
Image
Image
This comes to a total of ₹73,384 crores borrowed from foreign banks by Modi Govt in JUST 1 YEAR for Covid-19.

What does this mean?

This means that EVERY INDIAN CITIZEN today carries a debt just for Covid-19 loans.

(2/4) Image
Read 6 tweets
Jan 11
The HALF-TRUTH about Adani's so-called "make-in-India" drone that was acquired by Indian Navy yesterday.

These Adani drones called "Drishti 10 Starliner" are basically a REBRANDING of the Hermes 900 drone made by Israel's Elbit Systems.

Here's the fishy puzzling part 👇

(1/n)Image
India ordered 4 Hermes 900 Israeli drones in Nov 2023 - 2 for Army & 2 for Navy.

Adani has an agreement with Israel's Elbit to "manufacture" the Hermes 900 in Hyderabad.

What does Adani actually "manufacture"?

THE COMPOSITE FRAME OF THE UAV!

(2/n)Image
Now Adani claims these Hermes 900 drones (rebranded as Drishti 10 Starliner) are "Make-In-India" with 70-80% "indigenous components".

Truth is that Adani is calculating the basic "frame" of the drone as being 70%. The engines & other components are Israeli imported.

(3/n)Image
Read 4 tweets
Nov 23, 2023
Why is Modi Govt compromising national security by favoring banned Chinese-govt-owned company?

Despite an alleged "ban", Modi Govt continues to give out tenders for equipment from Hikvision - a Chinese govt-owned firm.

And some of these tenders are for SENSITIVE PROJECTS

👇
First a background:

Hikvision is a company owned by the Chinese Govt that has been under the scanner & banned by several countries globally out of concerns of Chinese surveillance.

US, UK, Australia - all have banned CCTV equipment from Hikvision.

(1/5)

Image
Image
Image
Hikvision is also accused of being used for several human-rights-violating purposes such as by the Chinese govt for surveillance of Uyghur students and by the Israeli Govt for monitoring Palestinians.

Interestingly, India allegedly BANNED Hikvision in 2020

(2/5)
Read 6 tweets
Nov 2, 2023
Modi Govt SHOCKINGLY gives data of crores of Indians to 2 pvt cos for BJP's election campaigning

On Tue, it was reported that personal data of 81.5 crore Indians was leaked

But here's what: Modi Govt, violating all laws, gives out confidential data for BJP's use 👇

(1/4)
BJP has routinely hired 2 firms: Jarvis Consulting & ABM (Association of a Billion Minds) for their election campaigning.

Of these ABM is literally like an in-house team.

These 2 companies target beneficiaries of govt schemes & use them for campaigning for BJP.

(2/4)
How do Jarvis & ABM know where to find these beneficiaries?

Personal data of govt beneficiaries is confidential. These beneficiaries receive govt scheme benefits from PUBLIC MONEY & NOT BJP FUNDS.

Yet, Modi Govt shares crores of data points with pvt cos hired by BJP

(3/4)
Image
Image
Read 4 tweets
Oct 23, 2023
How PM Modi fradulently uses a govt website for his "non-govt" PM CARES Fund

All RTI queries about PM CARES Fund are rejected.

When questioned in Delhi HC, PMO claims that PM CARES is "not a govt fund".

But its website is a website.

Details 👇

(1/4)GOV.IN

Image
In response to my RTI, National Informatics Centre told me that PM CARES Fund has been allotted a govt website under "Guidelines for allocating website under the 3rd level"

NIC also said that the govt website domain was allotted on request of PMO

(2/4) GOV.IN
Image
Guidelines cited by NIC say that:

"Eligibility under third level of allocation of govt domains includes apex officer like Prime Minister of India"

Ergo, PM CARES was given a website as it belongs to PMO.

How is PM CARES a "non govt fund" then?

(3/4) GOV.IN
Image
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(