Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday turned emotional while making a dour defence of the Indo-US nuclear deal, which has come under attack from his government's ally -- the Left, opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and raised hackles of eminent nuclear scientists.
Dr Singh said he did not hanker after the post of the prime minister but it came to him.
"I did not seek it. It came... My efforts will be to serve the vital interests of the country. This is the commitment I made in 1991," Dr Singh told the Rajya Sabha while replying to a short duration discussion on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
In an apparent rebuttal of the remarks made by suspended Congress leader Natwar Singh that the prime minister had not contested even a municipal election, Dr Singh said: "I am a late comer to politics. I belong to a family, which fought for our freedom. My father left 8th standard to become a freedom fighter. I may not have been in politics but I have in my blood, the feelings of freedom fighter family. I may be a novice...but I speak with some experience... I will discharge my duty till the last ounce of my blood."
Dr Singh, who as finance minister, had initiated the economic reforms in 1991, said no power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come implying that the reforms ushered by him started yielding results.
Referring to detractors of his reforms, the prime minister said that when he had initiated them there were lot of criticisms from the Left and the Right.
"When we look back, the results are there to see. Had India not taken the risk to go in for economic reforms in 1991, he wondered how the country would have faced the consequences of East Asian currency meltdown in mid-nineties. I am aware of the risks that I had to incur. I am willing to take those risks," he said, referring to the Indo-US nuclear deal that is aimed at bringing about energy security to sustain high 8-10 per cent growth.
© 2025