Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who predicted that history would judge him more kindly than contemporary politics, had been vindicated by the Supreme Court’s clean chit in the coal block allocation case, accusing the PM Narendra Modi-led government of using investigative agencies to target political opponents.In an article published in an English daily, Sonia described the July 29 Supreme Court judgment as an “important but unacknowledged” moment in India’s recent political history, saying it brought to an end what she termed a “witch-hunt” against Singh, who passed away on December 27, 2024. “History will indeed remember him kindly as a quiet, gentle, but most consequential PM,” Sonia said.The Supreme Court closed the criminal proceedings against Singh by setting aside the summoning order against him and upholding the CBI’s closure report in the case.Recalling Singh’s final press conference as PM in January 2014, when he said history would be kinder to him than the contemporary media and the Opposition, Sonia said the prediction had proved true.She said Singh’s reputation for integrity and accountability stood in sharp contrast to the functioning of the Modi government, accusing it of “grossly” misusing agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation to exert political pressure.Sonia said politicians were either coerced into silence or subsequently inducted into the BJP, with some even being rewarded with ministerial positions. She also accused the government of ignoring credible corruption allegations when they involved its own political interests.“Corrupt when you’re in the Opposition, suddenly clean when you jump ship,” she said.Sonia alleged that the campaign against Singh had been coordinated across political and institutional sections, including the RSS and BJP, and said the Supreme Court verdict had exposed the allegations against the former PM as baseless.She also targeted PM Modi over his 2017 Rajya Sabha remark about Singh “bathing with a raincoat on”, calling it one of the lowest points in parliamentary history.She argued that the campaign against Singh had sought to obscure the record of his government, which she credited with high economic growth and major policy interventions, including the Right to Education Act, MGNREGA, the National Food Security Act and the Forest Rights Act.Sonia also highlighted the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying Singh’s political courage and sustained effort helped end decades of nuclear restrictions on India and strengthened its position on the global stage.Drawing a contrast with the present government, Sonia said Singh regularly engaged with Parliament, the media and civil society and held more than 100 unscripted press conferences during his tenure.She also pointed to his government’s handling of student protests, saying students could protest against the government and even the PM without facing the kind of force she alleged is being used today.She said the Supreme Court judgment had finally brought the allegations against Singh’s integrity to a close and would allow his record as PM to be judged on his governance rather than the corruption narrative that surrounded his final years in office.She regretted that Singh was not alive to witness the verdict but said his prediction was becoming “increasingly self-evident”.