1991 Claims to be an ‘ordinary resident’ ofAssam The freshly appointed finance minister needed to do so in order to meet theeligibility criteria for nomination in the RajyaSabha.HiteswarSaikia, then Assam chief minister, issaid to have helped him get a backdated ration card, and issued him rentreceipts for a part of his own house in Guwahati. 1992 Wanted to hush up the Harshad Mehtascam According to a profile in Caravan magazine, Manmohan’sinitial response to the scandal was defensive. When, at an emergency meeting,it was suggested that there be an investigation, he is said to have demurred,“Then there will be a lot of noise,” he said. “People will write about it,everyone will know.” 1994 U-turn on the economic reforms of 1991 When a senior journalistasked about his U-turn from supporting socialism to launching reforms, Singh’sreply was: “...I served as a faithful civil servant...(and) carried out theorders of my political masters.” In 1994, Rao asked Manmohanto turn the clock back on reforms. He complied. 1999 ‘RSSwas to blame for 1984 Sikh riots’ Manmohansaid this during his first and only attempt to win a seat in Parliament (fromSouth Delhi constituency). It’s a charge thrown up intermittently. Manmohanhimself went on to a crushing defeat in an area packed with middle- and uppermiddle-class voters who’d benefited the most from his reforms. 2005 Lukewarm on NanavatiReport on ’84 riots The UPA in2005 maintained there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute JagdishTytler,SajjanKumarand H.K.L. Bhagat.In the LokSabhadebate, the PM’s first impulse was to dismiss the charges: “Govern­mentscan’t act when the commission itself is uncertain of these issues.” 2008 ‘At arm’s length’ from the 2G spectrumpolicy Manmohaninstructed his officers to keep themselves ‘at arm’s length’ from the goings-onin the telecomdepartment once the 2G licences were allocated on January 10, 2008. Documentsand tainted telecomminister Raja’sdepositions show that the PMO was informed about the policymoves. 2008 The nuclear deal and cash for votes The UPAwon the no-confidence motion on the nuclear deal after the cash-for-votesscandal that rocked Congress’s credibility. The PM dismissed as “speculative,unverified and unverifiable” a Wikileaks cable in 2011 that spoke ofplans to pay bribes to certain LS members to influence the voting. 2009 Defended closure of Quattrocchi cases “It is not a good reflection on the Indian legal system that we harass peoplewhile the world says we have no case,” Manmohan Singhsaid when asked about the closure of the case against controversial Italianbusinessman OttavioQuattrocchibefore the end of the UPA’s first term. 2011 CVCP.J. Thomas’s appointment Three official letters suggest the Palmolein case against P.J. Thomashad come to the notice of the Prime Minister. But Manmohanhas said he was not aware of the case pending against Thomas till the meetingof the selection committee on September 3, 2010, sparking a controversy. 2011 On corruption and the role of the CAG In an interaction with editors, the PM warned against the tendency to refereverything to the CBI. “It would greatly weaken(entrepreneurial) forces that we have unleashed, and willy-nillyinstall a police raj.” He also faulted the CAG for holding a press conference. http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?285207