The Accidental Prime Minister

Title: The Accidental Prime Minister – The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh

Author: Sanjaya Baru

Publisher: Viking Penguin, 2014 (First)

ISBN: 9780670086740

Pages: 301

Flash back to 2004!

Vajpayee is seeking reelection even when six months are still to go. The BJP is riding on a strong economy and the country’s new status as a nuclear weapons state. The party was confident to win the race with its new slogan “India Shining”. Pandits of history most of them are, but the BJP’s strategists forgot to factor in a crucial parameter of the country’s mindset into the equation. Indians feels embarrassed to celebrate any victory of their country. It eulogizes defeats of its sons against foreign invaders – the greatest being Porus against Alexander and Prithviraj Chauhan against Muhammed Ghauri. Every Indian knows of these two great defeats, but few remember the country’s resounding victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war. So, a society attuned to celebrate failure can’t be enthusiastic overnight about their raising clout. In spite of a sound fiscal policy, emergence as a regional superpower and corruption-free governance, the people voted BJP out of power. This put Congress, the main opposition party, in a quandary when they quite unexpectedly found themselves the winners. The party was dominated by the Nehru-Gandhi family, but its incumbent matriarch found herself morally constrained to assume the post of prime minister on account of her foreign origin. The search for a pliable, obedient alternative zeroed in on Manmohan Singh. Though a renowned economist and was once the country’s topmost financial administrator, Singh always wore loyalty to his master on the sleeve. Nobody thought of him in the role of prime minister, but precisely this self-effacement endeared him to Sonia Gandhi who wanted him to keep the chair warm for Rahul Gandhi. Singh himself acknowledged his ascent to Sonia and admitted that he was an ‘accidental prime minister’. Sanjaya Baru is a financial journalist who was Singh’s media adviser during his first term in office. His experience and observations while in the prime minister’s office is neatly catalogued in this excellent account of the four years he worked there.

Manmohan Singh’s unique combination of personal integrity, administrative experience and international stature was shared by none in the Congress party. Before becoming PM, he had occupied every important position in economic policy making in India. It was also the first time the party had to cobble up an alliance of other parties to get a grip on power. The UPA thus formed included the Left, which supported the government from the outside. Baru vividly recalls the helplessness of Singh even in such matters like selecting his ministerial colleagues and heads of statutory bodies like the Planning Commission. An example of appeasement of the Muslim community is narrated. Singh wanted to appoint Anu Aga who was the chairperson of Thermax as a member of the Planning Commission. Baru had obtained her concurrence, but the nomination never came. Eventually, Syeda Hameed was nominated, who was a Muslim, writer and social activist. The nuclear deal and improvement in relations with the US were put on hold on numerous occasions in fear of how the Muslim voters would react to them. Coming from an insider in the higher echelons of power, such revelations should shock us on account of the blatant sacrifice of national interest some politicians are willing to undertake to garner a few minority votes. The book also portrays petty squabbles between the high officials who control the destiny of the country over the kind of office room they occupy, the seating order and trivia such as the colour of the ink with which they sign!

This book caused much controversy at the time of publication on its exposing the pressures of Nehru-Gandhi family on the Prime Minister’s Office. Rahul Gandhi publicly derided the PM moments before he was to attend a crucial meeting of the nuclear treaty with the US. Baru has uncloaked Sonia Gandhi’s vengeful nature in her relations with former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. His body was not cremated in Delhi in anticipation of having to build a memorial for him at the cremation site. The body was not even laid in state at Congress party’s headquarters and was hurriedly flown to Hyderabad where it was laid to rest. Sonia didn’t attend the cremation too. She repeated this petty trick when another former Prime Minister Chandra Sekhar died in 2007. She wanted his body to be taken to Haryana, but Sekhar’s son threatened to use a public crematorium if the government didn’t allow his father a deserving honour. Reluctantly, the party relented and allotted space for him on the banks of river Yamuna. This is all the more outrageous when we remember that all of the Nehru family – Jawaharlal, Indira, Rajiv and even the prodigal Sanjay – found a place for eternal rest in Delhi. As usual, Singh remained a mute spectator to the play being unfolded around him.

Sonia’s depredations on Singh’s administrative powers are elucidated in detail. He was not permitted to allocate portfolios to ministers. Moreover, he was forced to accommodate persons made notorious for their corrupt deals in the past, much against his will. Baru states that power was delegated, but authority was not and alleges that Sonia’s renunciation of power was more of a political tactic than a response to a higher calling (p.74). The chapter titled ‘Responsibility without Power’ narrates the sad plight of the PM in the face of machinations by the Nehru-Gandhi family. Credit for all the good work done by the government went to Sonia, while all the blame for any mistakes or failures invariably would go to Singh. The author terms this ‘governance without authority’ and goes on to add that though all coalition prime ministers found their power limited by political compulsions, none of them exercised as little power while taking on as much responsibility as Singh (p.103). In 2007, Rahul Gandhi claimed credit for extending the rural employment guarantee scheme to the entire country from just 200 of the most backward districts even though the prime minister had declared it a month earlier in a public meeting.

While many countries in the world follow a thirty-year rule by which classified documents will be made open to public scrutiny after a lapse of thirty years so that the nation can reexamine the parameters and outcomes of its decision-making mechanism. Singh openly supported introducing such a rule, but backed out in deference to the wishes of Congress’ First Family. This was because the dynasty-ruled Congress was worried about throwing light on the murky deals of the Nehru-Indira-Rajiv era. Singh was unwilling even to follow up on a suggestion of launching a fifty-year rule!

Singh’s greatest achievement is the civil nuclear energy deal made with the US. This was a continuation of the strategic dialogue initiated by Vajpayee with the US in 2004 called ‘Next Steps in Strategic Partnership’. But the Left, led by the hawkish Prakash Karat threw cold water on the entire scheme by threatening to withdraw support to the government. This was when the deal was in its final stages of drafting after many years of negotiations. Karat was driven more by his ambition to assert his authority in the party and its partisan ideology than national interests. Sonia advised Singh to go slow on the deal, clearly wanting to stay on in power, but he offered resignation than continuing in such a sorry state of affairs. Finally, the Left withdrew support, but the government was saved when Congress made a hastily concluded arrangement with Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. This episode is a clear warning on the underhand deals of the backstabbing Left. Baru also brings to light the differences among its leadership. Sitaram Yechury wanted to support the deal, but couldn’t go against the command of Karat who was the general secretary of the party. In fact, Baru states that Yechury wanted CPM to join the ministry in 2004 and wanted to become the railway minister. All senior leaders like Jyoti Basu, Surjeet and Somnath Chatterjee supported the deal, but Karat’s opposition silenced them all.

Written in a lucid style, the book exhibits the power struggles that went on at the heart of the nation’s centre of authority. Boastful comments and self-promoting remarks are galore, but readers should condone the author for the genuine effort he has put in. A clear reason for his abrupt quitting of his post after four years in Singh’s first term is not given. Equally mysterious is his attempt to reenter after just one year when Singh had gained a thumping win in 2009. Altogether, the book is a must-read for getting a whiff of the extra-constitutional cliques that guided administrative decisions during Singh’s first term in office.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star