Economist-turned-politician Manmohan Singh seems to have developed a new fancy for historians but it may be guided by a personal motivation - that they judge him kindly for posterity. The Prime Minister, however, did not elaborate why he thinks historians would be kinder to him than the contemporary media and constitutional institutions like the CAG.
Ironically, around three months ahead of the next parliamentary elections, the Prime Minister chose not to say that the people have already judged his performance and pronounced their verdict by decimating the Congress in the four states that went to the polls last month.
Singh may not be in the mood to trust popular wisdom any more and may have a fair idea about the course voters may follow in the general elections. That may explain his warning of "disastrous consequences" if Narendra Modi arrives at the helm of the government.
Much before historians will write their opinions on him, two others, Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal, will be thankful for his presence in the PM's post for the last decade. These two leaders largely owe their rise to his record of pathetic governance for a decade.
Manmohan Singh at the press conference. Image courtesy: PIB
He didn't have a message for his political peers excepting describing Modi as being a potential disaster. Nor did he clarify on any issues of governance or on the Congress's position. He no longer had an unfinished agenda, or if there was anything to be done he avoided the two queries to that effect.
Singh may not have given a direct reply straight to a question put to him that many in Congress believed that he was "overrated economist and underrated politician", but the press conference clearly suggest that his party colleagues have not been wrong in their assessment. Like a hard boiled Congressman, Singh spoke about how Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi's interventions on issues of governance had helped him and his government. About how her (Sonia) "being there to back him" gave him "immense strength" and helped him accomplish the achievement of completing 10 years in office.
It seemed as if the singular purpose of his press conference, only the third in his 10 year tenure, was to announce that he was was in no way an impediment to the possible anointment of Rahul Gandhi as the Congress's prime ministerial candidate at the coming AICC convention on 17 January in New Delhi.
His briefing did serve the purpose of confirming that he would not be running for the third term and he found great virtues in Rahul Gandhi both as a leader and as a person.
"Rahul Gandhi has outstanding credentials for the Presidential (sic) candidate…As Congress president has declared it will be announced at the appropriate time," Singh said.
The three issues that he listed as his government's failures, or as he said were "not as successful" in tackling, relate to unemployment, inflation and corruption. Ironically enough the issues directly relate to the two qualities – being an acclaimed economist and having integrity of high order - that Singh had claimed when he came to power in 2004 or even in 2009 when he faced re-election.
Singh claimed that Indo-US nuclear deal was single biggest high point of his 10 year rule. It's true that Singh fighting it out on nuclear deal and being an economist at the helm during economic meltdown period helped him earn the 'Singh is King' title and become a middle class hero. Unfortunately today both his prime reasons for becoming prime minister lie in tatters and Singh considers himself part of history and to be judged by the historians.
Speaking after the press conference, Leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley said that a "combination of corruption, inflation and unemployment were perfect recipe for disaster".
Jaitley also termed Singh's media interaction a farcical exercise and since no one else in Congress was willing to give him an honourable farewell, the Prime Minister chose to have a farewell press conference for himself.
"The historians may have two views to say but the electorate have only one view to say," he said.
Singh, for the first time distinguished between the tenure of UPA -I and UPA-II, to evade allegations regarding high profile corruption cases. His argument was since the 2G and Coalgate happened during the tenure of UPA-I and he returned with grater mandate, his government should stand absolved of all charges. Singh chose not to mention the CWG games scandal and other scandals of UPA-II. He was also angry with media for playing into hands of vested interests and the opposition and overstating facts on these scandals.
During the course of the press conference, the politician in Manmohan Singh was clearly in full play when he claimed that the existence of a dual power centre was in fact a very best thing to have happened to Congress and to the nation. He also spoke at length about how Sonia standing by him had been a strength – to use as a shield against criticism and attacks from within the party for leading a disastrous regime.
The other instance was using his party's stereotype rhetoric against Modi when the question was about him being a weak PM.
"I don't believe I have been a week PM. That's for the historians to judge. If by strong prime minister you mean you preside over the massacre of innocents on the streets of Ahmedabad, that is not the kind of strength I will like to have…..Without discussing the merits of Narendra Modi, I sincerely believe that it will be disastrous for the country to have Modi as the PM," he said.
However, with the statement reopened the debate on Rajeev Gandhi's inaction when Sikhs were massacred in streets of Delhi, right under the nose of central government. No matter his intentions, Manmohan Singh's press conference has provided BJP with fresh ammunition to target the Congress.
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