28 April 2014, 06:41 PM IST
So who did not know that Manmohan Singh was an accidental prime minister? Everyone, including Dr Singh, knew it. Manmohan Singh's strength--that he had no political constituency of his own--was his apparent weakness. Only Dr Singh could have overcome it, no number of wise men could have worked a transformation.
Dr Singh was no stranger to Congress when he was given the nation's reins by Sonia Gandhi. He had been working with the party since 1991 and should have known how much independence and power he would be rationed out by Mrs Gandhi.
Much as Dr Singh's former information adviser Sanjaya Baru laments in his new book The Accidental Prime Minister—The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh (Published by Penguin | Viking, Price Rs 599, Pages 301) how the prime minister frittered away the opportunity to assert himself, you cannot be blind to political reality.
In 2004, there was no one else in Congress party who had Dr Singh's qualities of competence and compliance. As is public knowledge, without Baru saying so, Sonia was certainly not prepared to name Pranab Mukherjee as prime minister or deputy prime minister.
A disillusioned Baru, to buttress his argument, recalls that in 2011 Mukherjee told him—by that time Dr Singh's stature had taken a severe beating thanks to the 2G scam and policy paralysis—that the image of the government and the country is inextricably linked to the image of the prime minister. Baru writes: "With the emasculating of the prime minister, not just Dr Singh himself, but his government and, ultimately, the country, became the losers."
Despite the PMO's and Congress party's outlandish reactions that termed Baru's book as "fiction" the author has tried to 'project' Dr Singh's image as a competent prime minister during UPA-1, with him being around as information adviser.
At many levels, this is a kind and considerate account of Dr Singh. Baru reminds us that Dr Singh is the only Indian prime minister not from the Nehru-Gandhi family to have served two terms in office. But the raison d'etre for The Accidental Prime Minister is the public perception that Dr Singh accomplished this feat through unquestioning submissiveness. And Baru's book confirms the public perception.
Where Baru scores his points is when he writes that Dr Singh ignored his advice to stand on his own feet, especially not contesting the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, which would have added to his political legitimacy. It was, in fact, a piece of very sound advice but Baru unrealistically bet too high on Dr Singh. Now it is a moot question that with Baru as 'adviser' (as a Sanjaya) to the PM (as he was pitching for), would Dr Singh's second term would have been any different?
To be fair to Baru, there are no startling revelations in The Accidental Prime Minister—may be Mrs Kaur's admission comes close--"He swallows everything, doesn't spit anything out." It clearly sums up Dr Singh.
Political observers have often pointed out that Ms Gandhi does not let Manmohan assert himself as PM. Although Baru writes that "Sonia's renunciation of power was more of a political tactic than a response to a higher calling or to an inner voice, as she put it at the time," he has shied away from exploring the equation between Dr Singh and Congress president and it is what takes the sting out of the book.
Baru writes that "handling the delicate equation with Sonia was Dr Singh's first and biggest political challenge. Baru's job as information adviser was to establish Dr Singh's credibility as PM while ensuring that the relationship with Sonia and the party was on an even keel.
Baru, however, pulls his punches when he writes: "It was an early mark of Sonia's regard for and trust in Dr Singh that when she took charge as the party's leader in the Lok Sabha, she nominated Dr Singh as the party's leader in the Rajya Sabha.
In the end, the arrangement suited both Dr Singh and Sonia. Sonia was the caring socialist concerned about the welfare of the poor while Dr Singh was blamed for being too fiscally conservative and pro-business, Baru notes ruefully.
Baru writes that "whenever he asserted prime ministerial authority his image shone. Whenever he shied away from doing so, it took a beating. Creating, building and protecting this image, without necessarily allowing a situation where he would have to publicly differ or confront Sonia or his senior colleagues was the key to his success, his image and his power."
But such tightrope walking could not have gone for long, forcing Dr Singh to tell Baru that "You see, you must understand one thing. I have come to terms with this. There cannot be two centres of power."
Of course, The Accidental Prime Minister is a fine book, a bold effort from a perspicacious journalist who saw things from a vantage point. His tone is not condescending but dignified even when he laments Dr Singh's pusillanimity.
Finally, the reaction of one man is most important. One presumes Dr Singh would have read the book, but is he going to respond? Is he going to reflect on the years when he 'led' the nation and offer his take?
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