Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday hit back at Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her comment in which she had blamed Singh him for the ongoing bank crisis in the country, saying the government is obsessed with trying to blame the opposition for its failures.

The former prime minister slammed the Centre for failing to adopt people-oriented policies and stressed that the apathy of the BJP-led government at the Centre is exposed in the statements given by Sitharaman. "I have just seen the statements by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. I won't like to comment on that statement, but before one can fix the economy, one needs a correct diagnosis of its ailments and their causes. The government is obsessed with trying to fix blame on its opponent, thus it is unable to find a solution that will ensure revival of the economy," Singh said at a press conference in Mumbai. On Tuesday, Sitharaman had said that former PM Manmohan Singh and former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan were responsible for subjecting public sector banks (PSBs) to their "worst phase".

Singh said that the Centre and the RBI must find a solution for the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank crisis because it is affecting the lives of several PMC Bank depositors. "I expect the government of India, RBI and the government of Maharashtra to put their head together and provide a credible, pragmatic and effective solution to this case where 16 lakh depositors are trying for justice" he said.

On the repeated attacks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over Article 370, the former prime minister said that the BJP should stop issuing certificate of patriotism and Congress party does not need such certificate from the BJP.

"The Congress party voted in favor of the bill to abrogate Article 370, not against it. We believe Article 370 is a temporary measure, but if a change has to be brought, it should be with goodwill of the people of J&K. Manner in which it was implemented is what we opposed," he said.

Singh also said that the much-advertised double engine model of governance of the BJP has failed Maharashtra. He added that the state has faced some of the worst effects of economic slowdown due to the wrong policies of the government.

"Ex-PM Manmohan Singh: Much advertised double engine model of governance on which BJP seeks votes has utterly failed. Maharashtra has faced some of the worst effects of economic slowdown. Manufacturing growth rate of Maharashtra has been declining for 4th consecutive years," said Singh.