The Hindu Business Line : Govt's 100 days in office

THE other day, my son's friend, a Plus-2 student, was lamenting over the fall of the Indian rupee. "The BJP government had taken it all the way up to Rs 43.5 vis-à-vis the dollar and there were indications it would up to Rs 40. But just see what this government has done. It is now around Rs 46.4 and my parents say it will go down to Rs 48".

He then went on to complain how the Manmohan Singh Government is "bothered only about farmers and is not worried too much about businessmen and the big cities." The boy, of course, hails from a business family.

Surely the economist/technocrat Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has had a baptism by fire and his first 100 days in office have been a really hot. Unfortunately, it is not only the BJP-led Opposition that has given him tough times — mostly by not allowing Parliament to function — but also his own partymen in the Cabinet, who have ignored his authority as they continue to kow-tow to the Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi.

Competing with the belligerent Opposition, which did not even agree to a debate on the Finance Bill before its passage, were such factors as rising oil and steel prices that set the inflation graph climbing. Yet another major blow to the Government was the eight-day truckers' strike in protest against the service tax on their operations. All this sent inflation as measured by the Wholesale Price Index surging to nearly 8 per cent.

When he assumed office, Dr Manmohan Singh had promised to sustain the economy's growth rate around 8 per cent, keep inflation in check, cut the Budget deficit, and turn his government's attention to the rural sector and the farming community. But a combination of international factors and developments at home saw to it that the Prime Minister had little good news to give to the country as he completed 100 days in office. In fact, the eve of this landmark was marred by an ugly development, which resulted in the BJP top brass, the former former Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and the former Deputy Premier, Mr L. K. Advani, calling Dr Manmohan Singh the rudest Prime Minister ever.

This comment followed a meeting a few NDA leaders, including Mr Advani and the NDA Convenor, Mr George Fernandes, had with the Prime Minister just before the passing of the Finance Bill in Parliament without any discussion, as the Opposition continued to chant its boycott mantra. Of course, the Opposition has had any number of issues to justify its boycott of Parliament — from the "tainted ministers" issue to the comments by the Petroleum Minister, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, against the Sangh Parivar ideologue Vir Savarkar and l'affaire Uma Bharti vis-à-vis the Hubli Idgah Maidan rioting case.

But even while boycotting Parliament, the NDA wanted to tell the people how much it cared for them, even if they had rejected the party less than four months ago. And, hence, it sought a meeting with the Prime Minister, which was readily granted.

We have it on the authority of the Prime Minister himself that he not only granted this appointment to Mr Advani and his colleagues on a barely 30-minute notice, but also went up to the door to receive the seven leaders though originally audience had been sought and granted for two.

The NDA leaders then presented Dr Manmohan Singh a memorandum detailing the changes they wanted in the Finance Bill. And nobody was surprised to know that these were all sops which the parties comprising the previous government wanted — raising the tax-free income slab; restoration of PF interest rates to the original 9.5 per cent, and the like. Obviously, an angry Prime Minister saw through the thinly veiled NDA game plan; its MPs would not fulfil their constitutional obligation by attending Parliament and debating matters of public importance at that forum, as they had taken the moral high ground on issues such as "tainted ministers" and the arrest of Ms Uma Bharti. But they would seek `relief' for the oppressed masses and score a political point, in the hope that this gesture of the BJP and its friends would be remembered by the voters in the coming Maharashtra Assembly elections.

This request was rejected outright by Dr Manomohan Singh, who felt that Parliament, and not the PMO, was the right place to put forth such proposals. The NDA leaders stormed out of the meeting in a huff, refusing the tea that had been ordered for them! You'd have to take your pick on whether Dr Singh deserves the label of the "rudest prime minister ever" for throwing the paper on their faces, as claimed by Mr Advani and Mr Fernandes, or he just placed the paper back on the table saying that this was unacceptable to him, as Dr Manmohan Singh himself clarified to a few journalists later.

But even while congratulating Dr Manmohan Singh for dealing firmly with the NDA leaders who, as he never tires of telling us, have not even allowed him the "honeymoon period" granted to any new government, he has to be reminded that hardly any of the tall promises he had made after being sworn in have been fulfilled.

The South-West monsoon, after threatening to fail, did revive quite kind to the new Prime Minister. There are reports galore of Ms Sonia Gandhi being the real power centre, and of the any number of attempts being made, not only by a section of the media but also the coterie close to the Congress President, to drive a wedge between the all-powerful madam and her soft-spoken Prime Minister. Till now, these have not succeeded, but one can well imagine how hurt Dr Manmohan Singh would be at the spectacle of his Cabinet colleagues knocking on the doors of 10 Janpath all the time on issues related more to governance than the party.

If Ms Sonia Gandhi really means to keep away from the Prime Minister's chair and hopes to provide a Congress-led Government that means business when it comes to keeping the promises made vis-à-vis the rural economy and farmer welfare, and reaching the benefits of development down to the lowest level, she will have to do much more to give elbow room to the man she has chosen to head the government. It is not enough to choose the best man from within the Congress for the job. She will have to create an enabling environment for Dr Manmohan Singh's team to deliver, especially as he has no grassroots political clout and would be a babe in the woods when pitted against seasoned players such as an Arjun Singh or Pranab Mukherjee. If senior members of his Cabinet humiliate him all the time by running to Ms Sonia Gandhi for every thing and keep him in the dark about key developments in their ministry, they will only be giving ammunition to a waiting and willing BJP to accelerate its campaign on the "powerless prime minister".

Addressing captains of industry recently, Dr Manmohan Singh regretted that he had hardly had enough time to concentrate on matters related to industry. This is indeed a sad state of affairs because that is one aspect of governance that he can grapple with the best.

With rising inflation, more due to international factors than those of his government's making, and the Left breathing down his neck to stall any economic reforms that it can, the Prime Minister needs not only space but also the right frame of mind to give the right directional push to matters pertaining to the economy and India Inc.

Fortunately, when it comes to continuing the economic reforms regime he initiated as Finance Minister in 1991, the signals have been positive and both Dr Manmohan Singh and his Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, have mostly stood their ground and taken on the Left on matters such as reduction in PF interest rate by one percentage point and the budgetary proposals to raise foreign direct investment (FDI) limits in insurance, civil aviation and telecom sectors. Of course, the mandatory reviews have been promised and are being carried out on the FDI limit issue on pressure from the Left, but then one can put this down to the compulsions of coalition politics.

Though denied the traditional honeymoon period granted to any new prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh has behaved with dignity and restraint, and stepped out of his genteel behaviour pattern once in a while when the occasion demanded it, as inthe Finance Bill issue. But the biggest positive of the Congress(I)-led Government is that it does not instil fear or apprehension in any section.

Giving each section the confidence that this country belongs as much to it as much as to any other is an achievement by itself.

(Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in)