Unconvincing Apologia

The Accidental Prime Minister; Sanjaya Baru; Penguin books; Rs.599; Pages 285 œI HONESTLY BELIEVE that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, opposition parties in Parliament. Thus spake Dr. Manmohan Singh, India™s œaccidental prime minister of the past ten years. Unfortunately, this prediction is likely to be belied, even if amateur historians such as Sanjaya Baru, former editor of the Financial Express and Business Standard and incumbent director of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, judge him kindly. The plain truth is that perhaps no individual in the history of post-independence India was given so many chances and opportunities to work for the public good, build a firm foundation for the country™s growth and secure a place of honour in Indian history, than Dr. Manmohan Singh. Yet despite his excellent scholarship, academic experience and occupying every major economic office at the Centre, as governor of the Reserve Bank, stints in the World Bank and IMF, and two terms as prime minister, he blew them all. The only effective policy decision he is associated with is the late prime minister Narasimha Rao™s historic liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991. Yet so strong were his stars that in 2004 when against all expectation a Congress-led UPA coalition was voted to power in New Delhi on a wave of sympathy for Congress president Sonia Gandhi who determinedly fought the general election against a cocky BJP-led coalition, Manmohan Singh who had faded into comfortable obscurity, was pulled out of the mothballs and appointed prime minister. Shortly after being sworn in, for reasons which are not entirely clear, Singh appointed the author as his media adviser and as such a member of the PMO (prime minister™s office). This hurriedly written narrative is an insider™s account of Singh™s ten-year reign as the titular head of the UPA-I and II governments. According to Baru, Manmohan Singh is a cerebral individual of great integrity and sagacity who built a strong foundation for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition during his first term as prime minister, despite sustained backseat driving by Sonia Gandhi. œThe PM never questioned Sonia™s right as party president to influence portfolio allocations, discloses Baru.  Therefore throughout his two-term tenure, Singh was obliged to accept envious old-fashioned lefties such as the late Arjun Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and A.K. Anthony not only as ministers with the best Raisina Hill portfolios, but also as members of the œcore group of the cabinet. Singh™s great accomplishment, observes the author, was that despite running a 17-party coalition with a fractious cabinet, during his first term as PM he managed to run an efficient administration in which economic growth averaged almost 8 percent per year, inflation was under control, and the prime minister was greatly respected and honoured abroad. Yet surprisingly, Baru who has filled several pages with trivia such as the pecking order and prized office accommodation in the PMO, fails to address the opposition argument that the high GDP growth…