Manmohan Singh was ‘firm on govt matters’ — book launch inspires lookback at highs & lows of ex-PM eras

Also speaking at launch of journalist Neerja Chowdhury’s book ‘How PMs decide’, Sharad Pawar said during Babri Masjid row, Narasimha Rao heeded BJP MP's opinion despite cabinet's advice.

(From left) Journalist Neerja Chowdhury with her new book, NCP chief Sharad Pawar & Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, Delhi | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

New Delhi: Coming to the defence of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a book launch event in the national capital Tuesday, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that any impression that Singh was a weak prime minister was unfair. Elaborating further, Tharoor said Singh may have been weak on matters relating to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition, but was strong in handling affairs of the government.

Speaking at the launch of journalist Neerja Chowdhury’s new book How Prime Ministers Decide, Tharoor said, “He [Singh] was weak on coalition matters because he had no choice. A coalition is something which Mr Modi [PM Narendra Modi] has not had to contend with. If the situation changes after 2024, you might say differently about Mr Modi.”

Singh served as Prime Minister of the UPA government between 2004 and 2014.

Recalling his tenure as a cabinet minister in Singh’s government, Tharoor said there were instances when the latter stood his ground even if Sonia Gandhi, the then UPA chairperson, did not agree with him.

According to the Congress MP one such situation arose even before he became a minister, right ahead of a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during the negotiations of the Indo-US nuclear deal. “The Left wanted India to vote for Iran. The Prime Minister — I’m sure there was also pressure from Washington — wanted to vote against Iran. Mrs. Gandhi and her advisors wanted India to abstain. But at the end of the day, the PM voted against Iran,” he said.

“Mrs Gandhi knew where the Lakshman Rekha [boundary] was. Her job was running the party and politics, his job was running the government. And if he thought something was the right thing to do, she would give her view, but he would decide,” Tharoor added.

Also present at the book launch, was Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who said he would pick P.V. Narasimha Rao as the most effective Indian PM of all times.

Pawar had served as the defence minister in Narasimha Rao’s cabinet.

As the Babri Masjid issue was snowballing, Pawar said Narasimha Rao, the then PM, called a meeting of senior Cabinet members. However, then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Vijaya Raje Scindia had assured the PM ahead of the demolition that no harm would come to the masjid, said Pawar. And despite the advice of the cabinet, the PM heeded Scindia’s opinion, he said.

“We’d told the Prime Minister that we should not be seen defending the BJP leadership,” he said.

Chowdhury, on the other hand, recalled a conversation that Rao had with journalists at the time to say that he may not have been responsible for the Babri Masjid demolition but he was “complicit”. Rao had told journalists that the Babri Masjid issue was a “festering sore” and once it was over, the BJP would lose its main political card.

How Prime Ministers Decide was launched by Kerala Governor, Arif Mohammad Khan.

The discussion panel at the book launch also included the Congress’s Prithviraj Chavan and BJP leader Dinesh Trivedi. The session was moderated by journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.

‘Personally committed to nuclear deal’

Chavan also spoke about Singh’s vision for the Indo-US nuclear deal and how he went around the Left’s lack of support for the deal, knowing that they were withdrawing support from the government. Singh managed to save his government by garnering Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party’s support with the help of Amar Singh and Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

“Dr. Manmohan Singh was personally committed to it (the nuclear deal) when he realised that we might have a shortage of nuclear fuel. Scientists told him that if we don’t have enough nuclear fuel then our strategy programmes may get affected,” said Chavan.

He also said that things went wrong during Singh’s second term as PM because the government could not rise above the scandals and charges of corruption levelled against it. “A perception was created that this was an extremely corrupt government and we got stock barrelled,” he said.

Former Union minister in the Manmohan Singh government Dinesh Trivedi (he was with the Trinamool Congress then) spoke about the Arun Nehru (businessman-politician) and the Rajiv Gandhi era. “That period was one of the best. And if that period had continued, things would have been very different,” said Trivedi.

“Arun ji mentioned to me that we (Rajiv’s aides) were too young, too immature and there was a lot of dynamism. The Prime Minister doesn’t decide, somebody else decides for the PM,” he added.

(Edited by Smriti Sinha)