The Congressmen who once called Manmohan Singh an ‘overestimated’ economist are falling back on him to lead the charge against PM Modi & his policies.
New Delhi: When Dr Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister between 2004 and 2014, the common refrain in the Congress was: He is underestimated as a politician and overestimated as an economist.
The same Congressmen are now falling back on him to lead the charge against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose public persona and popularity opposition leaders are finding hard to match.
Singh, a self-effacing leader, is emerging as a star campaigner for the party, whose cameo appearances in the form of press conferences and statements in poll-bound states create more buzz than the theatrics of lead actors.
Also read: Manmohan Singh: The patriot Congress undermined but now needs to restore party credibility
Then and now
There was a time when Singh’s party colleagues would make fun of the GDP figures, saying they don’t bring votes. The party made no bones about its reservations against FDI in retail. It only grudgingly supported his push for the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, although that proved to be the election-winning gambit in 2009. The party chose to remain silent as the opposition went ballistic against Singh on the Indo-Pak joint statement at Sharm el-Sheikh, delinking terrorism from the dialogue process.
Things have turned 180 degrees now. The Congress has discovered many virtues in Singh.
“Not for him tall claims. Not for him empty and fanciful boasts. Not for him self-promoting bombast. Not for him falsifications of facts and history. Not for him the language of abuse and vitriol,” Congress matriarch Sonia Gandhi said Monday.
The Congress Wednesday flew Singh to Indore to address a press conference and tear apart the NDA government’s economic policies, such as the ‘flawed’ goods and services tax (GST), demonetisation, farm distress and joblessness.
Asked point-blank if his government had been ‘remote-controlled’, Singh, like a seasoned politician, didn’t bat an eyelid, attributing the success of his government to “no differences of opinion” between the government and the party.
Also read: Full speech: Manmohan Singh epitome of humility, says Sonia Gandhi
A true ‘star’ campaigner
Manmohan Singh is not given to oratory. He had addressed three press conferences in New Delhi during his 10 years as Prime Minister, and held dozens of other mid-air briefings on his way back from foreign trips. He wasn’t a sought-after poll campaigner. Although he invariably figured on the list of the party’s star campaigners, he wasn’t in great demand from candidates, except in Punjab. He would be asked to address election rallies as a courtesy.
Now, though, Singh has truly become a star campaigner, at 86, public rallies are not for him. The Congress has, therefore, started taking him to poll-bound states — like Gujarat and Karnataka earlier — to address press conferences and lend weight to its attack on the Modi government’s economic policies.
Last July, Singh’s remarks at the extended Congress Working Committee meeting — “jumlas” can’t replace policymaking — were lapped up by party leaders, as spokespersons went gaga about his speech.
As one hears Congress leaders spouting the growth figures and other achievements of the Manmohan Singh government, one is reminded of his words at the fag end of his tenure in January 2014: “History will be kinder to me.”
The perfect foil for Modi
Explaining why the party has fallen back on Singh to counter Modi, a senior Congress leader said: “He is the perfect foil for Narendra Modi. One is humble, another is bombastic. When Manmohan Singhji talks about the economy, he carries conviction. But when his successor talks about it, people take it with a pinch of salt. One is all about gravitas, another about flippancy.”
Party leaders say Singh’s involvement in the poll campaign, howsoever limited, also helps to counter the BJP’s projection of the Congress as a party that is led by the ‘non-serious’ and inexperienced Rahul Gandhi. While the Congress president seeks to match Modi hug-to-hug and bluster-to-bluster, Singh comes in to add gravitas to the narrative.
“He (Singh) also brings to mind the image of a victim, of an honest and well-meaning Prime Minister who was discredited and felled by the BJP’s propaganda and falsehood. People certainly judge him kindly now,” said a former minister in the UPA government.
Manmohan Singh seemed to be helpless before India’s first terrorist organization who was also responsible for killing of Mahatma Gandhi and also Sikhs. That organization seems to be so powerful that its members are even in Supreme Court of India. The illegal and unconstitutional language used in logo of Supreme Court of India is due to such terrorists only.
I think too much has been made of Dr Man Mohan Singh’s scholarship. There are thousands and thousands of professors in this world who are thoroughly knowledgeable about their subject. They all deserve to be, and ARE respected. They need not be, and ARE NOT “revered”. That’s the problem with we Indians; we do not know the difference between “respect” and “reverence”. We very quickly go overboard and stop asking questions of a respected person because for us he becomes revered. This is what has been happening with regard to Mr Narendra Modi — no one has asked him any questions; and this is what people more or less do with regard to Dr Man Mohan Singh.
Why has no one asked Dr Singh why he did not quit in last two years of UPA II when he realized that the Opposition, particularly BJP, his allies like Mr Raja and Mamta Didi, his own party’s leaders weren’t allowing him to function? Or did he even realize it? Did he have any control over even a lightweight like Suresh Kalmadi who was leading a hugely corrupt Commonwealth Games preparatory effort? Or did he even know what was going on?
If in 2014 a not-so-funny “Jack” emerged “out of the box”, named Narendra Modi, then Dr Singh was one of the TWO magicians who were responsible for the miracle. Mr Modi emerged larger than life mainly because of UPA II’s glaring failures particularly in its last two years. The other “magician” who gave a larger than life persona to Narendra Modi was LK Advani. He “protected” him in 2002 when PM Vajpeyi wanted to dismiss the Gujarat government.
The creation of these two magical personalities, Mr Modi is absolutely on a rampage in last five years in turning the democracy and secularism of this country upside down. Even sacrosanct institutions, all of them one by one, have been losing their sacrosanctity. How much more “re-definition” of our country’s cherished values he and the BJP will succeed in doing will, or should, largely determine whether history will remember Dr Man Mohan Singh kindly or not.
Congress has given importance to Manu as they are afraid of modi but history will never forgive him controlled by Italian family
Manmohan singh ji became a prime minister due to BJP. Bhartiya Janta Party protested against Sonia Gandhi becoming the prime minister of India and that is why Manmohan ji became prime minister. I am not sure if Manmohan ji is the first Sikh prime minister of the country (?). But due to BJP India got one of it few or first Sikh prime minister. Where was his Sikh pride? Why didn’t he do much for his Sikh community when he was elected as the prime minister of India? At least Bjp and PM Narendra Modi ji is proud of his roots and his culture. Manmohan ji and congress are always aping the colonial culture left by British by not giving any importance to our native languages and our culture.
Watching congress rule and operate feels like watching people with no Indian pride run a country which had lost its identity by the rule of British. I prefer Modi government over any congress formed government any day due the fact that they were running the government by keeping the Indian identity intact and not aping west.
His reputation of ‘integrity’, which did not help him personally during his ten years of the UPA rule, is now being exploited by the scam tainted Congress, as most others are embroiled in one issue or the other.
Really! People haven’t forgotton the series of scams during his tenure. I think it will still ve an issue in 2019.
History has written that Manmohan allowed frauds to take place under his nose and he was just a Yesman for Madam Sonia. No wonder Congress is also kind for him.
Congressman did not belittle him as an economist. He was held very highly as an economist even by P. Chidambaram who was very successful as Finance Minister.
People seem to have forgotten / forgiven the faint Theek Hai. Truly it has been said, when the results are not forthcoming, it is the incumbent, not the opposition, that defeats itself. Ms Tavleen Singh is changing tack in a guarded, hedged sort of way, but her son, Aatish Taseer is far more blunt.
In his last and only few press meet the taciturn Dr.Singh said two things.History will judge him more kindly and second Modi as prime minister will be disaster for India. Both statements being proven correct.