PM Modi's 'raincoat' barb for Manmohan is 'ugly' and 'poor in taste': Chidambaram

New Delhi, [India] Feb 8 (ANI): Coming down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his comments against his predecessor Dr. Manmohan Singh, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday asserted that never in the history of the nation such language has been used for a Prime Minister. Averring that Prime Minister Modi's comments were "ugly and poor in taste", Chidambaram said the latter only liked to hear his own voice as has not heard a single leader of Opposition speaking in the Parliament. "We have taken strong exception to the language and demeanour of the Prime Minister. firstly he doesn't come to the house to listen to any of the Opposition leader. Today he was scheduled to come at five o'clock, he deliberately did not come on time and arrived in the House only after the last speaker from the Opposition had concluded and then he begins his speech. Within minute of his speech he attacks the former prime minister in the most unacceptable manner," said Chidambaram. "Translated what he said was, "50 years Dr. Manmohan Singh occupied various positions and one must learn from him to how to take a shower wearing a rain coat." It was extremely poor in taste, it is unbecoming of a Prime Minister to use such language for a former Prime Minister, and it is uncertainly unbecoming of any one to say such harsh and ugly statements about Dr. Manmohan Singh," he added. Substantiating the walking out in the Rajya Sabha, Chidambaram said that the Congress vacated the Parliament as it did not want to stoop to the level of Prime Minister Modi's debate. "We are very disappointed and angry with what the Prime Minister said and we have expressed our protest by walking out. We could have stayed back in the house and created a ruckus we could have stormed the well of the house and shouted down the Prime Minister but that would have in circumstances of today brought us down to the level of the debate Mr. Prime Minister wanted," he said. "We don't want such a debate to take place, we walked out registering our protest we want the people to know that no Prime Minister before has used such language for a former Prime Minister," he added. Prime Minister Modi earlier in the day provoked a walk out in the Rajya Sabha with his scathing attack on his predecessor and veteran economist Dr. Manmohan Singh. Taking a dig at his squeaky clean record of 35 years of service as an economist, he accused the former prime minister of having a talent of 'bathing in raincoats', and getting away with the ugliest of scams. "Dr. Manmohan Singh has played a significant role in the economic system of India. In the history of India it is rare to find a man who has had a such a long relationship with the economy of India, 35 years of 70 years of independence.", Prime Minister said in reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address in Rajya Sabha today. He further added that in 35 years of service, so many scams surfaced, yet it marked no stain on Dr. Manmohan as an economist. "We leaders have so much to study as so much happened at the time, but there was not a single blot on him. This is a special skill Dr. Manmohan Singh excelled at and we should all learn this art of bathing in raincoat," he said. The remark stirred an instant outrage, with leaders of Congress deciding to walk out amid the futile pleas of Speaker Hamid Ansari to maintain the decorum of the house. Outside the parliament, Dr. Manmohan maintained his trademark calm and simply chose not to respond to questions over the Prime Minister's statement. Resuming his speech, Prime Minister Modi hit back at Congress saying when they used words like "loot" and "plunder", why was no second thought given. "We have the strength of paying back in the same coin and language, and yet within the confines of the Constitution. This is the exhibit of an attitude where you can't accept defeat," he said to the half empty House. Meanwhile, the Congress has warned of boycotting the Prime Minister for the rest of the Budget Session (April 12th) until he apologises for his comment on Dr. Manmohan Singh. (ANI)