Time magazine Calls Manmohan Singh the Indian PM an Underachiever: He is Also a Historical Aberration

Background

Manmohan Singh is the prime minister of India, but two points stand out. Firstly, he is not a member of the Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) which is equivalent to the House of Commons and secondly, he has no political base of his own, having been installed in his present chair by Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress party.

The Past in Relation to the Present

There was a time when the Congress party was led by men of the caliber of Mahatma Gandhi, who believed in 'swadeshi' meaning Indian. They boycotted western goods and propagated a non- violent path to freedom. But now the same Congress party is led by an Italian who for 12 long years after her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi did not opt for Indian citizenship. The wheel has turned full circle.

She is the one who has foisted Manmohan Singh as the prime minister on a nation of 1.2 billion people. The sad part is that Manmohan is thus a puppet and beholden to Ms. Gandhi for his survival and the result is that there is misgovernance and the prime minister has allowed things to drift.

What Time Magazine Says

In this background, the latest issue of Time magazine which has referred to the prime minister as an underachiever is rather tame. The same magazine a year or two back had hailed Manmohan Singh as a man with a vision who would lead India forward. The fact is Manmohan is an eminently qualified technocrat, but as a leader, he falls many inches short of the required grade. The prime minister hemmed in by Ms. Gandhi and her coterie has been unable to exert himself. There is a policy of drift and the economy is suffering. Inflation is rising and growth has come down dramatically.

Time Magazine has Understated the Issue

What time magazine has stated is I an understatement. The prime minister is not an underachiever but a total failure as a leader who can lead the Indian nation forward. There is the million dollar question as to why is he carrying on when he is unable to deliver? Another newspaper ‘the Independent’ from London has referred to the PM as Ms. Gandhi’s poodle.

One wonders whether these comparisons please Mr. Manmohan Singh. Propriety demanded that he resign and recommend a fresh election to the President. That could be his one act of defiance that may make historians remembers him. Unfortunately, he did nothing and for 10 long years presided over the fate of the Indian people.

Heading for the General Election

The general election brought out the fragility of Manmohan Singh. The election was a verdict on 10 years of misgoverning and drift. The noted writer Kushwant Singh once commented that Manmohan Singh could not win even a panchayat( Municipal Election) and it is a wonder that such a man held the post of Prime Minister for 10 years

Man Mohan Singh as prime minister turned out to be the weakest Prime Minister ever in Indian history. This is understandable as he had no base of his own, in both the party and the populace. He, in fact, presided over a cabinet that never listened to him and all decisions were taken by the chairperson of the UPA, Ms. Sonia Gandhi.

The results were disastrous as a series of corruption scandals unfolded and cabinet ministers partook in looting the national exchequer of billions of dollars. One has only to look around to see that the one enduring aspect of this prime minister is scams like the coal scam, Commonwealth Games scam, 2G scam, cash for votes scam, railway recruitment scam and many more. To list all of them would require a full page and Manmohan Singh smugly sat over these scams like Nero who fiddled when Rome burnt.

Foreign Policy and filip to Communialism

His indecision and naivety came to the fore in foreign affairs. He was unable to talk from a position of strength as his peers knew he had no say. Moreover, he committed innumerable faux pas in his meetings with foreign heads. His agreement with Pakistan to stop action in Baluchistan is a case in point when India has done nothing in Baluchistan. this was a cardinal blunder.

Manmohan Singh began to articulate Ms. Sonia Gandhi's voice as he began a series of measures to improve the lot of Muslims. Unfortunately, this was only on paper as the Muslims under his tenure became poorer. His sole aim was to garner votes and in this he resorted to mudslinging of the worst kind( at the behest of Sonia Gandhi) on the BJP candidate Narendra Modi.

Singh talked of Muslims being killed in the 2002 riots but turned a blind eye to the massacre of 10,000 Sikhs in 1984 under orders of Congress party goons. it is sad to think the Manmohan Singh is himself a Sikh, but so powerless he was that he could do nothing to punish anyone for the killing and murder of Sikhs. This will surely prey on his conscious if he has one.

A Historical Aberration

MM Singh is not just an underachiever as brought out by Time magazine but a toady, I am afraid one has to use this word. His sole aim was to have the trappings of power and pomp. India be damned.

A bigger point is that no leader in world history is a man who holds power without a mandate.Even Hitler came to power in a general election. Unfortunately, Man Mohan Singh is in power without any mandate from the people and this is a historical aberration. No wonder he was booted out of office with the Congress party having bagged the least seats ever in history of India after independence.