Dr Manmohan Singh: Leader With a Difference

Former PM and Congress leader Dr Manmohan Singh passed away at AIIMS in Delhi, on Thursday, 26 December. He was 92. Singh served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014, and was one of India's most successful finance ministers.

(Image: The Quint/@Vibhushita Singh)

Dr. Manmohan Singh was the first specialist to be sworn in India’s Prime Minister. Singh, who died at the age of 92 years on 26 December, was trained as an economist and made it his mission to take India on a growth trajectory. After all, his DPhil was from Oxford University on Indian Export Trends and Prospects, and he put it to good use when he bailed out the country from a grave economic crisis as Finance Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao.

The economic reforms unleashed by him, changed the face of the country in unimagined ways. Euphemistically dubbed as economic reforms, the policies of economic liberalisation made the country align closer with the United States of America, leading to it slowly shedding its socialist roots in a manner not visualised earlier.

Though resented by old Congressmen, like the late Vijay Bhasker Reddy, who thought that the interests of the poor had been bartered to satisfy the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) that tailored the strict conditionalities, Manmohan Singh called his programme, “reforms with a human face.” 

Despite his humble countenance, Manmohan Singh displayed firm resolve when handling key issues as India’s Prime Minister. 

'Dr Singh Ushered In RTI, Rural Employment Generation'

Besides braving the controversies surrounding the economic reforms, including one where his former boss, Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, claimed that he would not have been averse to initiating these policies if the IMF-WB had promised this loan.

The implications of Chandrashekhar’s statement were that IMF-WB did not want his government to continue. Subsequently, MMS also earned his spurs when it came to running a coalition when Singh managed to garner support from all opposition parties for his economic package. Initially, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L. K. Advani was opposed to the economic policies, but his opposition melted away when powerful intermediaries prevailed on him. This was the moment of triumph for him and paved the way for higher responsibilities. 

It is his stint as India’s PM for two terms that needs to be assessed to truly understand his complex persona. A Congress loyalist, Singh headed the first coalition that had both the communists and other parties like the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

It was an interesting government as it ushered in initiatives like the Right to Information (RTI) and the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. His policies were initiated during those days when the influence of the Left parties was dominant in the decision-making at the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

The country lifted millions of people living below the poverty line. Suddenly, it was possible to see an upsurge of optimism in the country with millions of people being able to find dignified employment. The rural guarantee scheme had improved wage rates and also stopped the movement of people from rural to urban areas. 

'Election Fought on Nuclear Deal and Dr Singh's Charisma'

It was in 2008 that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh faced a big challenge—garnering support for the Civilian Nuclear Deal. Singh used the same network that helped him win endorsement as FM for economic reforms, but the BJP, helmed by L. K. Advani, refused to back him. Worse, the Left parties that were a dominant force in UPA-1 refused to support the deal and instead joined hands with their arch-foe, BJP.

Seeing hostility towards the deal, Singh told his US counterpart that despite the benefits of the civilian nuclear deal, he could not push it. This writer was informed by the State Department in Washington that they were running out of ideas when it came to pushing the deal and they were on the threshold of abandoning it. Something changed thereafter.

Ideally, this revelation should have come from Singh himself, but now he and the party began to display greater resolve. Parliament was the scene of great drama with allegations of “cash for votes” dominating the airwaves. The BJP and Communist Party of India (Marxist) MPs also wanted to walk up to Raisina Hill to stop the vote, claiming cash was contaminating the voting process, but Speaker Somnath Chatterjee intervened on the government’s behalf and let the vote go through.

It was indeed a nail-biter, in which Singh held his nerve. The next election was fought on the deal and on the charisma of Manmohan Singh.

'Why Did Singh Continue to Helm When His Govt Lost All Credibility?'

Ideally, Singh would have liked to contest, but he was prevented from doing it lest he became a political threat to the Gandhis. To be fair to Singh, he never displayed any ambition nor spoke out of turn, but he would have liked to contest as he resented heading the government from Rajya Sabha.

His second term blighted his image and left the Nehruvian legacy in tatters. The Congress party and the UPA coalition partners became synonymous with corruption, and the PM’s inherently democratic temperament was used by his detractors to make things look worse. He carried on helming the government when it had lost credibility. Why did he do it? 

Those who claim to be close to Singh claim that he did not want to let down his party leader, Sonia Gandhi, who had given him the difficult task of running a coalition government in which the partners were running in different directions driven by provincial concerns.

The challenge to keep a secular government in harness was given precedence over the probity of its ministers. In the telecom deal, the DMK leaders were accused of making big money.

When a Congress minister tried to raise the issue, he was told by a senior aide of the Congress President that for running a large coalition, they needed to look the other way. He was also told that if these deals proved unpalatable, he could consider leaving the cabinet. The objecting minister chose to keep his counsel. Why did Singh not resign if he indeed was the “reluctant PM”?

'Obama Called Him Guru, Merkel Pushed for Economic Ties With India'

These dark areas in his long political career notwithstanding, Singh was a highly respected statesman. Heads of State who tried to pontificate on the climate deal or whatever was the issue of the day were seen to be lectured on why different principles needed to apply to a country like India.

US President Barack Obama called him his “guru.” He held his own in all the meetings that took place during the economic meltdown. No one dared to speak down to him, least of all world leaders. In fact, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had instructed her people that they should clear all proposals for economic cooperation with India. 

He aspired to carve a permanent history by invoking a vision of breakfast in Kabul, lunch in Lahore, and dinner in Delhi, but his pious thoughts were torpedoed by the terror attack in Mumbai.

He also showed sympathy when he stated categorically to this writer en route to Havana, Cuba, where he was leading the Indian delegation for the Non-Aligned Summit, that Pakistan was also a “victim of terror.” Later at Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, he showed the magnanimity of a big neighbor to look into the charge of India interfering in Pakistan-controlled Baluchistan. The matter was hastily withdrawn when the party reacted angrily to it. 

Manmohan Singh was a leader with a difference. He never forgot he was merely the person mandated to run the affairs of the government as the political authority rested with Congress boss, Sonia Gandhi.

This proved to be the undoing of a great idea that began in 2004 that changed the face of the country but later ended up being a disaster and giving a bad name to secularism.

Tragically, he failed to stop the BJP’s juggernaut despite making many sacrifices, including giving space and credibility to what many called the Gandhian charlatan who led the movement against corruption and destroyed Congress in Delhi and beyond. Manmohan Singh would be known for many things, including his deep-rooted commitment to democracy. 

(The author is the editor of Delhi's Hardnews magazine. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)