The Hindu Business Line : To save polity, PM must assert his authority

IN THE few weeks Dr Manmohan Singh has been Prime Minister, he has given the impression of being a self-effacing bystander helplessly watching the happenings around him, rather than one at the helm of affairs enjoying the ready and willing acceptance and confidence of his associates in the Congress(I) and colleagues in the United Progressive Alliance. He does not seem to be commanding the deference and loyalty of even his Ministers over whom he is constitutionally and, as a matter of course, entitled to wield his authority.

It is in the nature of power that unless it is seen to be asserted and exercised, it soon falls into desuetude, resulting in the situation being taken advantage of by self-aggrandising rivals and rambunctious ragamuffins.

This is especially so in India, which has already earned the sobriquet of a "functioning anarchy"; this sounds charitable considering that the country faces the risk of being turned into a dysfunctional disaster.

In these troublous times, it needs a leader who is willing and able to fight for what is right. Being passive is not the same as being unruffled; so also, being withdrawn and wishy-washy is not the same as being suave and modest.

Shockwaves

Dr Singh has not yet managed to emerge as a PM in his own right. He is still viewed as one occupying the chair by the grace of his mentor Ms Sonia Gandhi. His own Cabinet has not been of his making or seeking. He must have had to flout all the lofty values he had been brought up in to take as Ministers against several of whom courts of law have framed various criminal charges.

Remember, contrary to the disinformation campaigns indulged in by indicted politicians, the charges are a result of proper judicial application of mind taking account of facts and circumstances of the case. It is preposterous to suggest that courts act out of political motives.

He had to swallow his pride when the deal for portfolios of Ministers nominated by the DMK was struck behind his back, and the subsequent dispute that arose for failure to implement the deal was also resolved without reference to him by Ms Sonia Gandhi and Mr M. Karunanidhi between themselves. The country has had so far not been told of the stand he proposes on L'affaire Sibu Shoren.

There are reports suggesting that the PM himself had no knowledge of the decision taken by the Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, to set up yet another inquiry into such an enormously sensitive matter as the Godhra carnage of 2002, when already two inquiries are going on under separate auspices.

There can be no doubt that the Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarindar Singh, took the indefensible unilateral action he did, terminating at one fell swoop the water-sharing agreements with Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, only because he felt he had nothing to fear from the Centre. Dr Manmohan Singh's tepid and even timorous reaction has only sown the seeds for similar excesses by others in authority who have their axes to grind.

Unlike Ms Sonia Gandhi, or even Mr Rahul Gandhi or Ms Priyanka Vadra, Dr Manmohan Singh has not become a familiar household figure, nor has he been able to find time to visit various parts of the country, other than putting in a brief appearance in Hyderabad. Any other PM would have by now rushed to the flood-stricken Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and West Bengal.

The consoling presence of Ms Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi, in the midst of the parents of the children charred to death in the inferno at a Kumbakonam school in Tamil Nadu was in stark contrast to the PM being nowhere in sight. It was strange, to say the least, that the Congress President made all the announcements of various Government grants and reliefs which Dr Singh ought to have made as the Prime Minister.

No end to destructive politicking

While on the one hand much has been made of the interviews Dr Manmohan Singh conducted for the selection of the Cabinet Secretary, on the other, his agreeing to the appointment of some antediluvians to oversee vital matters whose dimensions, complexities and instrumentalities have advanced beyond recognition since their time in government is inexplicable.

The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has been left to fight his battles with the opponents of some of his proposals, without the PM's decisive intervention.

If there has to be a rollback of any of Mr Chidambaram's very modest initiatives, such as the ones for attracting foreign direct investment, it will be on account of the omission on the PM's part to put his foot down and leave no one in any doubt where he stands and what he wants. He has not yet been able to bring himself to tell off the Alliance partners and supporters of the Government from the outside that if they continue their self-centred and destructive politicking, the day is not far off when the Alliance itself will fall apart due to internal stresses and strains.

On the whole, then, convincing signs of Dr Singh's firm grip and sure touch are missing. Is his inability to make a strong impact due to the lack of a political base?

True, he is not a coarsened politician in the conventional mould, at ease with the wheeling dealing and horse trading associated with it. He is an intellectual and a professional of unimpeachable integrity who would be happy to be left to his habits of study and reflection. This very trait may inhibit politicians as a class of whatever party from striking a rapport with him.

The only glue enabling the Government to stick together is the determination of the constituents of the UPA to keep the BJP out at whatever cost and by whatever means. But at some point, even this may come unstuck, and the UPA may head for an implosion, unless the PM assumes the overarching role of the undisputed leader, mentor and pace-setter of the Government.

Diminished reverence

Unfortunately, Dr Singh has wittingly surrendered that role to Ms Sonia Gandhi. He has become the victim of sarcastic depiction in commentaries and cartoons of the numerous audiences he is constrained to have with her to get her nod to whatever decision he needs to take. She can leverage her position as the president of the National Advisory Council (NAC) to superimpose her judgment on the PM in regard to the course, priorities and policies of the UPA and call for reports on the progress of implementation of the Council's advice.

The interposition of the NAC is anomalous when there is a National Common Minimum Programme binding the Government and when it is the preserve and prerogative of the PM to call the shots and crack the whip.

So, how does Dr Singh get out of the trap? The answer is obvious: He should simply assert his authority and be himself, instead of allowing himself to be compelled to make compromises with propriety and probity. Merely because he is running an Alliance does not mean that he should submit to dictates against his values and conscience. It is not as if he desperately needs the job:

As The Economist says, he is already "revered both as a successful former finance minister and as an incorruptible public servant". The way his present job is working out, that reverence is in danger of being diminished, if not lost altogether.

On the contrary, by laying down stern conditions commensurate with his upright temperament and demanding a free hand, and quitting if he does not get either, he can electrify the whole country, and, in the bargain, put heart into other good persons within the establishment and outside to stand up and fight the predatory monster that politics is threatening to become.

Indeed, he may thereby emerge as a second Gandhiji leading the country in waging a second war of freedom from slavery to marauders, mafias and moneybags, who, to the average citizen, seem to be vastly more oppressive than the British ever were.