 Manmohan
Singh's dilemma is unenviable. He still cannot make up his mind
whether he has been elected by the people of India or selected
by Sonia Gandhi. 'Both' is a compromise that survives in calm
waters but comes apart at the first hint of turbulence.
Sonia Gandhi's problem is a complication of adversity: you can
tell a Salvation Army that there is no Army, but you can't
suggest that there is no Salvation. The Congress face of
salvation is Rahul Gandhi, not Manmohan, which creates a
disconnect between government and party. A senior party
office-bearer like Digvijaya Singh, therefore, has no qualms
about undermining Manmohan at will. Would Digvijaya Singh dare
criticise Rahul Gandhi, even after the calamity of the Bihar
campaign or the less than salutary results in Tamil Nadu? No. He
knows where the source of bread and butter in Congress is. They
are the reward of those who constantly demand that Rahul Gandhi
replace Manmohan forthwith. The notional prime minister has more
authority in Congress than the national prime minister.
A famous tycoon who built an empire out of a dream used to say
that it was always possible to lose your way if a car had one
driver; but a crash was absolutely certain if it had two. The
UPA Government has three drivers, all in the front seat.
Manmohan has been handed the steering wheel without being given
the keys to the car. If nothing moves, he gets the blame. When
he does try and move, driver and navigator often work at cross
purposes. Sonia Gandhi's agenda is fixated on populist measures
that she believes will make Rahul Gandhi electable; Manmohan is
constrained by the limitations of fiscal responsibility. Almost
any issue, including the corrosive management, or mismanagement,
of corruption, exposes internal contradictions.
Manmohan became prime minister in 2004 but had to share power
with a higher authority. After 2007, he has been denied even the
privileges of his office. He has been shunted to a waiting room,
awaiting the day Rahul Gandhi feels sufficiently stirred to do
Indians the favour of becoming their prime minister. But the
nation has no pity to waste on a prime minister who does not
assert his legitimate authority. Every waiting room has a door.
You can always exit through the door that brought you in.
Instead of moving, either to assert control, or to walk out,
Manmohan seems frozen. The freeze included his vocal chords,
because candour could easily have become incandescent in an
environment where his party leaders are allowed to taunt him
publicly. Manmohan is a humble man, but effective prime
ministers do not dine on humble pie. He has been persuaded at
long last to loosen his chords, and we learn that he will take
tea with media "regularly", perhaps even once a week. It is
always better to chat with the messenger than shoot him, but the
point surely is whether there is any resolution for the
contradictions that have trapped governance.
How long can a government last without governance? The technical
answer is known. A majority in Parliament is often described as
"brute" because it can become impervious to popular sentiment.
If the Congress believes that it can be both government and
Opposition, soaking up the advantages of power while stoking
popular sentiment against a scapegoat prime minister, then it
will pay a heavy price in the next elections. Duplicity does not
work.
Manmohan is a reticent man, whose feelings are rarely visible.
But he is unable to hide his discomfort any longer. He has never
laughed in public, even in happier times, but he did flash the
occasional smile, which sort of burst through his beard, but
gently. He almost beamed after victory on the nuclear bill,
which set the mood for re-election in 2009. Within two years of
his finest moment, he has lost his smile. He should either get
it back, or go home.
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PMs don't dine on Humble Pies
The columnist is editor of The Sunday Guardian, published from
Delhi, India on Sunday, published from London and Editorial
Director of India Today and Headlines Today.
Guruji, Heal Thyself
The most
interesting author I have met calls himself 'Guruji' Shastri,
Girish Chandra Gautam. The apostrophe and comma are a carefully
nuanced note of stress, not mangled grammar. Perhaps he needs a
delicate pause between his scholarship and present status. He is
a convict in Tihar jail No. 2. I did not check the nature of his
crime; a certain delicacy is the legitimate due of fellow
authors.
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Guruji, Heal Thyself
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