Manmohan Singh thousand times better than Modi: Kejriwal
New Delhi, May 10: As prime minister, Manmohan Singh was "thousand times" better than Narendra Modi, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who was a key leader of the massive anti-graft movement against the UPA government in 2011, said on Friday.
Calling him a "good man", Kejriwal said it was Singh who shielded India from the global economic recession in 2008 by taking a series of timely measures.
"Manmohan Singh is a good man. He was thousand times better than Modi. He is an educated man, an economist of repute. He understands the economy," he told PTI in an interview.
"In fact in late 2008, when there was global economic depression, India was perhaps the only country which was not impacted by it as Singh took a series of measures and saved the country," Kejriwal added.
Kejriwal along with Anna Hazare had led a massive anti-graft agitation against UPA II between 2011 and 2013 when Manmohan Singh was the prime minister.
A section in the Congress feels that the movement hit Congress's image paving way for Modi to capture power in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
In late 2012, Kejriwal and a number of other leaders of the movement announced formation of the Aam Aadmi Party to fight the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections while Hazare had decided not to join them.
Asked about strong views by several Congress leaders about him as the anti-graft movement damaged the UPA politically, paving the way for Modi to capture power in 2014, Kejriwal said if the demand of a Lokpal was met, then the AAP would not have even born.
"Our movement was against the corruption of the UPA government. Our movement was for Lokpal bill. Why did not the Congress bring the bill. If they did it, our movement would not have continued and Congress would have got a huge credit. If that was the situation, then AAP would not have even been formed," said Kejriwal.
About Modi, Kejriwal said his return to power would be "bad" for India.
The Delhi chief minister alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "totally failed" in delivering anything in any of the key sectors and that is why he has been resorting to "fake nationalism".
"Modi-ji's nationalism is fake. It dangerous for the country," he said.
"He is using the armed forces to get votes as he does not have any work to show," he alleged.
Kejriwal alleged Modi has been "influencing" people's mind through the media, large section of which, he said, the prime minister has captured by "inflicting fear", or by greed.
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Kerala court sentences 20-year-old man in minor girl rape case
Kollam (Kerala) (PTI): A Kerala court has sentenced a 20-year-old man to 21 years of imprisonment for raping a minor girl after befriending her on a social media app.
Karunagappally Fast Track Special Court judge Rajeevan Vachal sentenced the convict to 21 years under the relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, special public prosecutor (SPP) N C Premchandran said.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.1 lakh on the convict, the prosecutor said.
The incident occurred in 2024 when the accused befriended her on a social media app and then offered to take her to the Azheekal beach here.
However, instead of taking her to the beach, he took her to an isolated place behind the CHC hospital at Mynagappally here and raped her, the SPP said.
Following the incident, the girl attempted suicide, but was saved and then told the doctors what had happened, the prosecutor said.
The hospital authorities informed the police, who registered a case and launched an investigation.
The prosecutor said that seven witnesses were examined and 20 documents were submitted before the court to substantiate the guilt of the accused.
