Manmohan Singh: The ‘unintended PM’ who proved, repeatedly, that he was no accident | Political Pulse Information

In April this 12 months, the 91-year-old Manmohan Singh retired from lively politics — after being a Rajya Sabha MP for 33 years. Nobody would have believed it as soon as potential however earlier than Narendra Modi gained a 3rd time period this 12 months, the scholarly, soft-spoken, cautious chief attacked for his silences – he was referred to as “mauni baba” – can be the one non-Nehru-Gandhi Indian PM to have two steady full phrases.

In his lengthy political journey, Singh contested Lok Sabha elections solely as soon as — from South Delhi in 1999 — and misplaced. It was suspected on the time that some senior Congress leaders had labored behind the scenes to make sure his defeat in a bid to forestall him from buying the picture of a popularly elected chief. After that, the once-bitten, twice-shy Singh by no means tried a run for the Lok Sabha – not taking that danger even when he was the PM from 2004 to 2014.

Fittingly, as he retired from the Rajya Sabha, Sonia Gandhi entered the Higher Home for the primary time, as a Congress MP from Rajasthan — the state that Singh represented for his remaining time period, after having been elected to the Home earlier from Assam.

Throughout our dialog, it was clear that what anxious him probably the most was the large “bitterness” that had crept within the relations between the ruling aspect and the Opposition, which he felt was “not good” for democracy.

Singh’s rise from humble beginnings to the head of energy was the story of a self-made man; that such an increase might happen in India was to the credit score of India’s unbelievable democracy, nonetheless faltering it could be. Born in Gah, a backward village in west Punjab (now in Pakistan), which didn’t have any college, well being services or electrical energy, he used to stroll miles to go to an Urdu-medium college — and would examine underneath the kerosene lamp at night time. He attributed his rise to the “system of scholarships” for poor college students that existed on the time.

There are few people in public life who’ve had the sort of expertise that Singh acquired whereas heading a slew of the nation’s prime establishments of governance – from being chief financial advisor and Reserve Financial institution of India governor to finance secretary and UGC chairperson. He additionally grew to become the Planning Fee deputy chairman with a deep understanding of the nation’s federal set-up and Centre-state relations.

After holding these key positions, he was introduced in 1991 as a “technocrat” finance minister by P V Narasimha Rao when the latter instantly grew to become the PM within the wake of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Even earlier than his swearing-in, Rao discovered himself confronted with a extreme stability of fee disaster and India on the verge of a default. Whereas Rao took the daring determination of taking India out of the “licence quota raj” in the direction of structural reforms — India’s choices had been restricted because the Soviet Union had collapsed and it was a US-led unipolar world it confronted — he was ably assisted by Manmohan Singh as they went on to usher in reforms and stabilise the financial system. A champion of financial liberalisation, Singh because the PM later presided over an increasing financial system with a trajectory of excessive development.

It was an sudden flip of occasions which made Singh the “unintended Prime Minister” in 2004. Sonia Gandhi was elected because the Congress Parliamentary Get together chief after the overall elections, and was additionally chosen because the UPA chairperson. However she determined to not grow to be the PM.

Sonia anointed Singh because the PM, which created an uncommon power-sharing mannequin — she took care of the “political” selections and he of “governance” (regardless that the 2 are inseparable). She was quickly seen as the actual energy centre. However Singh, within the phrases of one in all his ministers, remained “endlessly gracious” even when his directions had been ignored by his colleagues who regarded as much as Sonia Gandhi extra for steers.

He was likened to a blade of grass which bends when the storm comes, not like a tree which stands erect and crashes. That is likely one of the the reason why he survived for ten years because the PM.

He “accommodated“ not simply Sonia but in addition senior leaders like Pranab Mukherjee, with prime ministerial ambitions of their very own, who needed to work underneath him. Mukherjee headed a lot of the GoMs (Group of Ministers) and EGoMs (Empowered GoMs) by means of which Singh selected to run his authorities. He used to deal with Mukherjee as “sir” earlier than he grew to become PM – and for a while even afterwards, till Mukherjee urged him to not do it.

Quickly after he took cost because the PM, one of many first questions Singh needed to tackle was the place to get Sonia seated in Parliament. This was a tough difficulty, given her enhanced stature after saying “no” to the PMship. It was once more Mukherjee who got here to his rescue and located a passable seating association for her within the entrance row.

In September 2013 , Rahul Gandhi “gate-crashed” a press convention and trashed an ordinance cleared by the Manmohan Singh Cupboard, calling it “full nonsense”. The ordinance had overturned the Supreme Courtroom’s ruling that MPs would instantly lose their membership in the event that they had been sentenced to a jail time period of at the least two years. It was seen as Singh’s weakest second because the PM. Many felt he would resign. He didn’t. What will not be so extensively identified is that Rahul had apologised to Singh afterwards, as per knowledgeable sources.

There was, nonetheless, one difficulty on which he remained unyielding, it doesn’t matter what the obstacles that got here his means — the Indo-US nuclear deal (in 2008), which led to a strategic relationship with the US, a course of which continues apace. Singh and US President George Bush loved a exceptional chemistry of their relations. Bush the loud, hearty Texan was impressed with Manmohan Singh’s “integrity, intelligence and self-deprecating methods” and would ask his officers, “What does Manmohan Singh need? I’m dedicated to him.” Although offers are concerning the self-interest of countries, and the US noticed India as a counter to China within the area, it may not have gone by means of with out Bush and Singh on the coronary heart of it. They pursued it with a dogged zeal for over 39 months.

It was throughout this era that Singh confirmed a political savvy few thought he possessed, displaying a killer intuition, deploying “saam daam dand bhed”, getting the higher of Sonia, who opposed the deal initially, and the Left events, which threatened to withdraw their important help and eventually did it. Sonia’s highly effective political secretary Ahmed Patel was heard remarking in frustration, “Who’s Physician Sahib to resolve about alliances, that’s the job of the occasion (Congress).”

However Singh mobilised different help from the Samajwadi Get together – belying the idea about him that he was politically naïve and primarily a bureaucrat. Whereas he was considered as a “weak PM”, and scams had been to riddle his second time period, on this occasion, he confirmed that he might maintain his personal and be his personal man.

Singh would have chafed towards being hemmed in because the PM by an assertive Congress brass, although he didn’t go public about it. He did threaten to resign a number of occasions throughout his premiership – however didn’t go forward and do it.

The architect of India’s financial reforms, the one Sikh PM the nation has had, Singh was chosen because the PM as a result of he was Sonia’s greatest wager. He had no private agenda, nor a constituency of his personal.

However a key query that historical past might choose him on — kindly or in any other case — is that this: Despite the fact that the 2004 mannequin underlined a power-sharing association with Sonia, might Singh have pushed the envelope extra, with a higher assertion of the authority of the place of the Prime Minister of India?

(Neerja Chowdhury, Contributing Editor, The Indian Categorical, has lined the final 10 Lok Sabha elections. She is the creator of ‘How Prime Ministers Determine’)