Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 13, 2009
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/175744/Man-in-the-muddle.html
PM has reduced himself to a caricature
It is a truism that every election campaign
is a revelation and teaches the country something new about itself and its
politicians. In that sense, the 2009 Lok Sabha campaign was Mr Manmohan Singh's
coming out moment. Long seen and protected as a gentle, apolitical administrator,
he showed himself to be a consummate politician. What began as a routine exchange
between the Prime Minister and the man who was the Opposition alliance's candidate
for his job became, thanks to Mr Singh's astonishing and acerbic assertions,
an abusive affair. Mr Singh made personal remarks against Mr LK Advani that
were beyond mere political criticism. Next began the thawing of the Left-Manmohan
relationship. The Prime Minister who had so strongly attacked the Communists
even at the beginning of the campaign soon began seeing the writing on the
wall. By this past week, he was talking of doing business with the Left once
more, recalling the UPA-Left 'secular' partnership with fondness and calling
West Bengal's Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee a 'friend'. On Monday,
May 11, Mr Singh went to new lengths of absurdity. He said the 1984 anti-Sikh
pogrom was "tragic" but the "issue cannot be kept alive forever".
In the same breath, he was dismissive of Mr Narendra Modi and said he had
"doubts" about Mr Nitish Kumar's secularism because he had shaken
hands with the Gujarat Chief Minister. The Prime Minister believes all talk
of 1984 is "politically motivated" but refuses to assess the contrived
drama over 2002 using the same yardstick. There is an impolite word for such
behaviour: Hypocrisy.
Actually, Mr Singh's plight is a tragic drama,
unfolding before India's eyes. He has served various Governments well, in
a variety of roles, beginning with advising Mrs Indira Gandhi on economic
issues. His loyalty to the Congress, especially the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty,
is unimpeachable. If he had campaigned quietly and understatedly and prepared
to bow out with grace, he would have won admirers. Instead, he has reduced
himself to a pathetic figure. Despite it being obvious that the Congress is
going to lose seats, he is desperate for another shot at the Prime Minister's
post. He has allowed his party leadership to expose him to ridicule by meekly
allowing it to compare him with Mahatma Gandhi and give him the sobriquet
of 'Sher-e-Punjab'. He has even started believing in this faux aggressive
persona by using strong but ultimately meaningless language. This is not the
Manmohan Singh India respected even when it disagreed with him. This is not
the Manmohan Singh who began the election campaign. What have the past three
months done to him? They have reduced a technocrat to a caricature. That is
a pity.
When the votes are counted at the end of this
week, Mr Singh will suddenly find himself alone, bereft of his political sponsors,
of the media gaggle hanging on for that one quote, of bureaucrats bowing meekly
in his presence. He will become the Congress's most expendable individual,
as it seeks to carve a political future. Whether it compromises with the Left
and finds a more acceptable Prime Minister, whether it backs a 'Third Front'
Government or whether it sits in Opposition, the Congress will have no role
for Mr Singh. The man in the bubble will suddenly be buffeted by the winds
of hard reality. Why did he have to do this to himself?
