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A man of many parts – Firstpost

A man of many parts – Firstpost



The journey of economist Manmohan Singh evolving as an astute politician has been a fascinating tale and merits a full-length biography.

Like many seasoned politicians, Manmohan Singh was a man of many parts. Most obituaries written in the last few days have glossed over his ‘careerist’ approach and flexibility to change sides.

I have witnessed them on several occasions, and here is a glimpse of some: On December 5, 2019, Singh chose to belittle his onetime mentor, PV Narasimha Rao. Speaking at the 100th birth anniversary of the former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral, Singh told the gathering in New Delhi how the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre could have been avoided had the then home minister, Narsimha Rao, acted upon the advice of Gujral.

“Gujral Ji was so concerned that he went to the then Home Minister Narsimha Rao that very evening… The situation is so grave that it is necessary for the government to call the army at the earliest. If that advice would have been heeded perhaps the 1984 massacre could have been avoided,” Manmohan Singh said. 1984 anti-Sikh riots have been highly emotive and sensitive issues where Rajiv Gandhi’s role has often come under scrutiny over the young prime minister’s failure to curb riots that killed over 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi alone. 80 other cities across the country had witnessed anti-Sikh violence after Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.

It is worth reflecting upon how Singh has been saying different things at different times about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. During his 1999 South Delhi Lok Sabha poll campaign, Singh had sought to implicate the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Addressing a press conference at the Press Club of India on September 2, 1999, Singh had described the 1984 riots as “a black spot and the saddest event”. He, however, clarified that the Congress as an organisation had no role in it. Singh then went on to say that the first information reports lodged at different police stations in Delhi proved that several RSS men were involved in the riots.

The South Delhi seat in the 1999 general elections ultimately proved to be insurmountable for the good doctor as he had to battle infighting/sabotage from within the Congress and a strong BJP campaign targeting the Sikh voters in the prestigious South Delhi region not to vote for a party that had “blood on its hands”. Singh lost to BJP’s Vijay Kumar Malhoutra.

Interestingly, within months after his electoral defeat, Singh started talking differently. The politician who was given a Rajya Sabha berth by the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi clarified that he had not held the RSS solely responsible for the 1984 riots. On December 13, 1999, Singh had said, “My statement was twisted for electoral gains. I had said that if there were individuals associated with the Congress and other organisations, including the RSS, who had taken part in the riots, they should be punished.”

As prime minister, when Singh rose in the Rajya Sabha on August 11, 2005, to tender an unqualified apology over 1984 Sikh killings, the RSS reference was missing. Instead, the prime minister said he was not standing on any ‘false prestige’ and bowed his head in shame. A somewhat emotional Singh had also recalled how he had accompanied Congress president Sonia Gandhi to Harminder Sahib in 1999 and remarked, ‘We together prayed to give us strength and show us the way that such things never again take place in our country’ and added, ‘…as human beings we have the willpower, and we have the ability to write a better future for all of us.’

Interestingly, Sonia Gandhi’s trust in Singh was in sharp contrast with her husband Rajiv Gandhi’s rather dismissive outlook towards the economist. The year was 1985 when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had taken a very urban-centric vision of development and restructuring of the economy. Singh at that point in time was Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, and Rajiv, as Prime Minister, was its ex-officio Chairman.

CG Somiah, a former Union Home Secretary who retired as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, has recorded a famous incident that has now faded away from public memory involving Manmohan Singh and Rajiv Gandhi in his autobiography, The Honest Always Stand Alone. Rajiv had described the Planning Commission under Singh as a ‘bunch of jokers’ who were bereft of any modern ideas of development.

Rajiv’s “bunch of jokers” remark had reportedly hurt Singh, and the economist had contemplated resigning from the Planning Commission. But second thoughts reportedly prevailed. Somiah claims he convinced Manmohan to stay on. “I sat with him (Singh) for nearly an hour and told him not to take the extreme step and blamed the prime minister’s ignorance for this behaviour. I further advised that since the prime minister was young and inexperienced, it was our duty to educate him rather than abandon him. I was finally able to convince him not to act hastily, and that was my good deed for the day,” records Somiah in his autobiography.

But for economic journalist Vivek Kaul, a significant point came out that he did not quit even after the prime minister of the country had publicly called him a “Joker”. “What this tells us clearly is that Manmohan would rather continue and compromise with the prevailing state of affairs than make bold decisions,” Kaul observed in a column.

Price rise and inflation remained an issue of major concern during Singh’s second innings as the prime minister (2009-2014), but for some inexplicit reasons, in his total of 1,379 speeches, Singh spoke about inflation only in 6.3 per cent of his total speeches, which was just in 88 speeches. Another sensitive issue of cross-border terrorism and national security figured as a low-priority area for Singh. Of his total speeches, the prime minister talked about terrorism in 307 speeches—22 per cent of the total speeches. More importantly, he failed to inspire the confidence of common citizens. The disconnect on national security became glaring when the prime minister took four days to speak on a shocking issue of the beheading of Indian soldiers on the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

As I had mentioned in another piece, Singh was working at the United Nations under the famous economist Raul Prebisch; he got an offer to join the Delhi School of Economics as a lecturer. He accepted the invitation, deciding to return to India in 1969. Prebisch was rather surprised, wondering why a brilliant economist like him would give up a lucrative UN job and return to India. “You are being foolish,” Prebisch told Manmohan Singh, adding, “But, sometimes in life it is wise to be foolish!”

Returning to India made him a politician among politicians.

The author is a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A well-known political analyst, he has written several books, including ‘24 Akbar Road’ and ‘Sonia: A Biography’. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.



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