Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarkable political journey took him to Assam, which unexpectedly became his second home. As a Congress Rajya Sabha member from Assam, he started as an 'outsider' but came to be the northeastern state's very own prime minister.
In 1991, when then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao chose him as his finance minister, Manmohan Singh became a Rajya Sabha member from Assam, which was ruled by a Congress government at the time. House no. 3989, Nandan Nagar, Sarumtria, Guwahati, remained his address until his fifth Rajya Sabha term ended in 2019. After that, he was nominated from Rajasthan until he retired earlier this year.
The 2 BHK apartment in the premises of the personal home of former Assam chief minister Hiteswar Saikia became Dr Singh's rented accommodation. Later, Dr Singh and his wife also had their names as voters transferred from Delhi to Assam, to a polling station in Dispur.
"When Prime Minister Naramisha Rao wanted to bring in Dr Singh into politics and make him his finance minister, he shared the Idea with my husband, who was then Assam chief minister. He suggested that Dr Singh can be sent to Rajya Sabha... that's how it all started," shared Hemoprava Saikia, the Hiteshwar Saikia's wife and Manmohan Singh's landlady. Ms Saikia, a former Assam minister, explained that even a court ruled that one doesn't need to own property in Assam to be nominated to Rajya Sabha from the state.
"There were people who didn't like Dr Singh's entry in Assam; some even went to court challenging his Rajya Sabha nomination on grounds that he doesn't have an address in Assam. That's when we offered our 2 BHK part apartment on rent, which became his personal address 1991 onwards. The house was taken on rent for Rs 700," Ms Saikia recalled.
As a Rajya Sabha member from Assam, Dr Singh played key roles in major projects in the state. As prime minister, he approved the process of updating the National Register of Citizens or NRC in Assam, which was a long-standing demand and a fallout of the Assam accord of the 1980s.
"He was a simple man with massive integrity. Whenever he came here, we used to have family chats. After my husband's death, many people offered him a luxurious apartment here. Even when my husband became chief minister, many suggested that he should not keep this two-bedroom house as his address. But Dr Singh said this house is his connection to Assam, he never wanted to change it," Ms Saikia told NDTV.
The 84-year-old went on to share interesting anecdotes on the former prime minister, who died at 92 on Thursday evening. For one, she revealed, he was particular about rent payments.
"He always used to pay the rent in time and by cheques. Once, when he was prime minister, he sent the rent by cheque but we forgot to encash it, so he wrote a letter and attached a fresh cheque, asking us to encash immediately. Even as a prime minister he was diligent as a tenant. There are a lot of things for politicians of this generation to learn from Dr Singh," Ms Saikia further remarked.
She last met her illustrious tenant during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when Dr Singh came to cast his vote and had lunch with the Saikia family.
The family never rented out the house to anyone else after Dr Singh left; in his memory, it will always be kept locked, Ms Saikia said.
