When PV Narsimha Rao took over as PM, the Indian economy was in tatters. He offered the job to IG Patel and then to Manmohan Singh (when Patel refused). India had, has and always will have tremendous potential which will remain untapped. Manmohan Singh did the obvious (PVNR gave him a carte blanche and stepped aside) and India’s economic recovery began. The myth of Manmohan Singh was thus born.
The fact still remains that India’s economic ascension began on Manmohan Singh’s watch and thus he deserves a lot of credit. But he has been amply rewarded for his role. Even though he has never won in a general election, he has been a two time PM of our country. However, while Manmohan the FM did well, Manmohan the PM has failed at every level. I am a scientist and can barely manage my own money so I defer to others when it comes to matters of money. Heritage foundation ( a liberal American think-tank has published an article where Dr. Derek Scissors says that India stays on the path to economic failure. He has used terms like undisciplined spending and unrealistic expectations, consumer inflation, lack of reform, unsuccessful infrastructure program, ill-defined property rights, deficit, falling GDP etc. Now what even I understand is that all these terms have to do with Manmohan Singh’s area of expertise i.e. Economics. He and his man Friday, Montek Ahluwalia, have miserably failed. Even though Chidambaran is the FM, he is a party faithful and thus more interested in making Sonia ji happy. Management of economy is PM’s responsibility. If he wants to take credit for putting India on a road to recovery then he has to shoulder the blame for our misery as well. When taken to task by the opposition, Singh got help from Rashid Alvi who says that Singh’s honor is national honor. What a pile of dung! If Alvi is right and Singh’s honor is the same as country’s honor then Mother India’s honor resembles MF Hussain paintings of Hindu deities. Alvi’s loyalty is acknowledged but he cannot cover up Singh’s failure in managing the economy.
I am not even going to bring up the issue of corruption. That is way too painful to talk about.
But what about foreign affairs, you say? Hasn’t he succeeded there, you ask? Other than toeing the American line with little to show for, he has done nothing. Even the much-vaunted nuclear deal is nowhere to be seen. That was supposed to be the crown jewel in Singh’s infrastructure development. Other than Gujarat and other prosperous pockets, power remains our Achilles’ heal. In every budget or plan, even the promise (forget about reality) of development is made only in Congress rules states.
The aam aadmi laments that if you cannot feed me then at least keep me safe. Well, other than liberal lapdogs like Aakar Patel (if you do not know who he is then you are lucky) no one thinks that Singh has done anything to keep us safe. If we have not been attacked more often than we have then it is because the pakis have been too busy with their own problems to attack us. But that does not mean they cannot attack us at will. Known IM operatives, the Bhatkal borthers are living in Karachi’s defence housing colony (sounds like a cruel joke) under paki protection. One of these brothers was arrested in Bengal but was let go by the police over there. These policemen are good at arresting cartoonists lampooning Bannerji but when it comes to Muslim terrorists, their incompetence comes through loud and clear. Anyway, despite of all of pakistan’s perfidy, Singh is hell bent on making peace with them to cement his legacy. A legacy built on a pile of dead is still a legacy to Singh. I suppose that is the liberal way of thinking.
In most civilized democracies, when a tragedy strikes, the political leadership is there to reassure the population that all is being done for their safety and bringing the guilty to justice. What we saw in the brutal rape and murder of Jyoti Singh Pandey (I am still at a loss why is this goddamned government hell bent on keeping her name a secret), Singh was nowhere to be seen until they could hide him no more. After that all we heard was “Theek Hai”. What inspirational and reassuring words!
If you cannot feed me or protect me or inspire me then what good are you? What right do you have to continue to stay in that chair? If the Indian opposition and the voters were not so divided, this man would not be there as a painful reminder of our impotence. If the voters do not set their priorities straight then be prepared for another Congress term in the next election. In the next term we may get someone even worse than Singh as PM.
Our blog on the topic can be read at: http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2012/07/manmohan-singh-is-not-only-one-at-fault.html
The Heritage Foundation article can be read at: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/02/28/india-stays-on-path-to-economic-failure/
The Nanjappa article on Bhatkal brothers can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-ib-traces-bhatkal-brothers-to-terror-colony-in-karachi-pakistan/20130301.htm
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