By Himadrish Suwan:
Dr. Manmohan Singh effectively bid goodbye in his recent and so called last Press Conference as an Indian Prime Minister, declaring that he is not a candidate for PM in 2014 General Elections. Laying the virtues of Congress VP Rahul Gandhi and unleashing personal attack against BJP’s Narendra Modi, it is being called his farewell message as an Indian Prime Minister. It is a fact that Dr.Singh is an “Over Rated” economist & an “Under Rated” politician. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has long been lauded for his pivotal role in liberalising the Indian economy in 1991, has been dubbed as an “underachiever” by a top US magazine which says he appears “unwilling to stick his neck out” on reforms that will put the country back on growth path.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has spent more than three thousand days in office, a privilege not shared by anyone from outside the first family of Indian politics. As the man now walks his last mile towards the sunset, there seems to be no achievement to his credit other than his sense of survival amidst some of the worst scandals in Indian history. Nine years ago, when he took charge, the growth rate stood at eight percent. India, in sync with the global market, was in rise. Still, India was not shinning contrary to the self-defeating slogan of the previous BJP government. In another scenario, there was no one better than Manmohan Singh —India’s first Economist Prime Minister to take the story forward. It did not happen in spite of his first 5 years that saw the reluctant politician mastering the game and the end of his term becoming a best selling item for the Congress in general elections 2009.
Slumbering at a pitiful 4% growth rate & the free falling rupee turning into one of the worst performing currency in the world, it is not a matter of joy. The Manmohan Singh of UPA-II was a repudiation of the Manmohan Singh circas of 80’s. The two big corruption scandals of his term, the Coal Gate and the 2G Spectrum, have shown us a negative signal in the world market.
Manmohan Singh the modernizer was one of the wisest man from the east, he is now one of the weakest head of a government and ‘a liability for the Congress Party’.
An R.T.I. filed to the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) by Citizen Journalist & RTI Activist Himadrish Suwan reveals & exposes that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not “ Maun”, he has spoken quite well but not effectively enough to reach the ears of the common man.
He may be accused by critics of keeping silent in the midst of a crisis but may have set a record of sorts by delivering 1,300 speeches during his record tenure in office since May 2004. Starting May 24, 2004, the PMO has a faithful record of all of them which only RTI can reveal & expose.
The situation of India under an absent leader reminds us of a play “Andheri Nagri, Chaupat Raja Taka ser bhaji, taka ser khaja”(vegetables sold at the same price as exotic dates). Prime Minister Singh addressed a press conference in Delhi and took questions from the media. Prior to that, he spoke at length about the UPA government and his work as the Prime Minister of India. The Prime Minister accepted failure to check unemployment, inflation & corruption in the last press conference of his tenure as PM. “I am concerned that we have not been as successful as we need to be in generating employment in the manufacturing sector. This is an aspect of performance which we are working hard to correct,” he told the media.
To a question asked by a media official if he had ever felt like putting in his papers out of frustration, he said: “I never felt like resigning at any time. I have enjoyed doing my work. I have tried to do my work with all honesty, with all sense of integrity without regard for fear or favour.” The PM claimed that he would come out unscathed when history is written about this period. Let us see what History records for him. Dr. Singh’s Press Conference gave the BJP another chance to curse the Prime Minister & its party. BJP’s senior leader Arun Jaitley said – “If after 10 years in politics, Rahul Gandhi is called untested, then it only reflects how little impact he’s had in ten years”. Jaitley said that “Manmohan Singh was bitter at the media during the press conference, more bitter towards the Opposition and most bitter at Narendra Modi….during 2G, and coal scam, the PM could have taken steps to stop corruption but he did not”. He said that no leader has been scrutinised like Narendra Modi. “…It was PM’s farewell press conference, it was a time for introspection and not for bitterness,” he added.
Dr. Singh led government is undoubtedly the most corrupt government in the Indian History with corruption cases ranging high in his tenure. 2014 is an important year for India. It may be a 3-sided fight between Narendra Modi VS Rahul Gandhi and may be VS Arvind Kejriwal. Traditional Indian Politics is changing following the path of simplicity laid by some of our Netas like Mr.Manohar Parikkar, Mamata Banerjee, Manik Sarkar & Arvind Kejriwal. As the Sun Sets for Dr.Singh, it is now under the leadership of Congress V.P Shri Rahul Gandhi to save Congress from being called a “Sinking Ship”.
Dr.Singh said that he believes that he has not been a weak PM. “That is for the historians to decide”.