Undoubtedly Manmohan Singh has been a much stronger leader than what the nation perceives. People only point out his weaknesses, but people fail to appreciate what he could do with all his constraints and weaknesses.
MMS is no typical politician, he has no electoral base, he is not the leader of his party, he has no personal lobby to back him up, and he had to take dictation from Sonia Gandhi for all major actions. An ordinary person would have collapsed under so many constraints. Possibly the nation would have collapsed, had he not managed the balance. Before him, no coalition government got elected for a second term.
MMS never had the full liberty to make decisions, to take action, to decide his ministry. Even Sonia never had full power since UPA was a coalition government. Other than UPA, only two coalition government could complete their term - Narasimha Rao and Vajpayee Ji. But even stalwarts like them could not manage to get elected for 2nd term. Whereas MMS got elected and completed two full terms. It can not be Sonia Gandhi’s credibility alone. Why do people feel too shy to give due credit to MMS? Rao and Vajpayee ji never took dictation from anybody, they were great politicians, tactically brilliant but still, they couldn’t manage to get elected for the second term.
So the question is not about MMS taking dictation from Sonia or not. The question is how better he managed the governance despite all his limitations which the stalwarts couldn’t manage. MMS has not been elected for the 3rd term. But now people feel that possibly it would have been better if MMS had continued as PM. This is no mean achievement. People often desire that the Modi government should take advice from MMS for improving the condition of the economy.
MMS had his share of blame for not being strict against corruption, possibly the biggest blame. But even great politicians like Vajpayee had great difficulties in managing the coalition. Additionally, MMS didn’t have the power to take all the calls. Though he ordered a CBI inquiry for all the scams. Possibly MMS could have threatened to resign. But who knows whether he has threatened or not? Whereas, when it comes to the economy, he was rock solid. Possibly this was one area where he bargained strongly and took his call without any interference. Today we know the importance of a strong economy, strong economists, and the importance of MMS. Modi government with all its claims for a corruption-free government couldn’t stop the economic downfall. Whereas Modi has all the power to do anything or take any decision. He is not handicapped like MMS.
Against Modi’s 56-inch chest, MMS has a frail figure. Manmohan Singh underwent a heart bypass surgery with four grafts in 1990, and a procedure to place a stent in 2003. In 2009, he underwent another heart bypass surgery at AIIMS during which five grafts were placed to open blocked arteries. But he has not shied away from his responsibility of serving the nation. Nobody could question his dedication. It is alleged that MMS was soft on terrorists, whereas during his tenure of 10 years 4241 Nos of terrorists were killed. While 963 terrorists were killed, 413 security personnel were martyred in J&K since 2014 under Modi rule. MMS speaks less, he doesn't give excuses and doesn’t ask for people’s sympathy shedding tears. He never blamed his predecessors for his failure. He simply worked what best he could do. It's the people of the nation to decide whether he was a strong leader or not.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with former U.S. President Barack Obama during their meeting at the White House in Washington. File photo. | Photo Credit: PTI
No surprise Barack Obama wrote “ A gentle, soft-spoken economist in his seventies, with a white beard and a turban that were the marks of his Sikh faith but to the Western eye lent him the air of a holy man, he had been India’s finance minister in the 1990s, managing to lift millions of people from poverty. For the duration of his tenure as Prime Minister, I would find Singh to be wise, thoughtful, and scrupulously honest,”
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