B.RAMAN
The Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh, whose
Government is left with less than two years in office addressed the nation on
the night of September 21,2012.
2. He has been addressing the people from the Red
Fort on the Independence Day every year. He had also briefly addressed the
people on the TV after the 26/11 terrorist strikes in Mumbai.
3. His televised address of September 21, 2012, had
a different context and a different purpose. The context was the growing
negative atmosphere in the country partly as a result of his own sins of
commission and omission in providing effective and inspiring leadership to the
country during his second tenure as the Prime Minister that started in 2009.The negative atmosphere was also partly
the result of the concerted efforts of the opposition led by the BJP to exploit
the economic and other difficulties faced by the country to destroy the
credibility of his Government and of him as a leader.
4. The BJP and other Hindutva elements have been
constantly trying to project him as a non-leader, who has neither the stature nor
the will nor the ability nor the powers
to govern. They have been projecting him as a Prime Minister on sufferance kept
in office by Mrs.Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the Congress Party, in order to
enjoy the powers of office without the
accountability for its record.
5. The purpose was to explain to the people the
state of the national economy against the background of the global economic
meltdown and the rationale for some unpopular economic decisions taken by his
Government last week to reverse the slow-down in the economy. These decisions,
inter alia, related to the increase in diesel prices to reduce the fiscal
deficit in the short term and to permit foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail and civil aviation in
order to revive the interest of the foreign businessmen in investing in India.
The purpose was also to convey a clear message to the foreign investors that
India is still a vigorously on-going story and not a story that has petered
out.
6. Thus, his message was simultaneously addressed
to two audiences---Indian and global. His message to the Indian audience was
that “I am the Prime Minister of India, I started the Indian economic miracle
between 1991 and 96,I have a responsibility to take the miracle forward despite
the temporary difficulties, I am determined to do so and my ability to do so
would depend on your support.”
7. He explained the rationale for the recent economic
decisions in lucid terms, admitted that these are hard and unpopular decisions
and sought the people’s understanding and support. His message for
understanding and co-operation was not addressed to the political class---neither
in his own party nor in the opposition. It was directly addressed to the people
in his capacity as the Prime Minister responsible for the governance of the
country.
8.His message to the global audience sought to
highlight his determination to give a fresh momentum to the economic reforms of
which he was the architect between 1991 and 1996 and to make India investor-friendly
once again.
9. While the purpose of his message to both the
audiences was loud and clear, his ability to translate that message into action
is not. That ability would depend upon to what extent he has been able to
convince his own party on the need for hard decisions and to what extent he can
depend on its backing for mobilising the support of the people.
10. The country has been passing through not only
severe economic difficulties, but also a crisis of confidence and national self-esteem
caused by widespread allegations of corruption, nepotism and malgovernance.
Large sections of the people, rightly or wrongly, share the views of the
detractors of the Prime Minister that he and his party have brought the country
to the present pass.
11.He is the leader of the Government, but not the
leader of the party. His word is not law in the party. It is Mrs.Sonia Gandhi’s
word that prevails in the party and not his. That is the public perception. Not
unjustified.
12. It was a statesmanlike address, dignified,
non-partisan, non-polemic and non-apologetic. To deliver an address of such high quality marked by
determination is easy, but to translate it into action is not. Translating it
into action would depend on his determination to assert himself as the Prime
Minister in the remaining months of his office and to function as he ought to
function. Till now the public perception has been that he has been the most
non-assertive Prime Minister the country has had.
13. To reverse that perception, he has to convey a
clear message to Mrs.Sonia Gandhi and the party----thus far and no further. His
message needed to be addressed to a third audience---Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and the Congress Party. That he could not have done in a televised address
to the nation. He has to convey his message separately to Mrs.Sonia Gandhi and
the Party. He has already made it clear to them that there can be no roll-back on
the hard economic decisions already taken. He has to make it clear now that
more hard decisions are required and he is determined to take them.
14.He has also to convey a clear message to the
other political parties in the opposition as well as in his own ruling
coalition. He must make it clear to them that if they do not co-operate he and the
Congress will not hesitate to seek a fresh mandate of the people by going for
premature elections, if necessary.
15. If the Prime Minister has to translate his
message into action, he and his party should rid themselves of the fear of
premature elections. If they win and come back with a renewed mandate, well and
good. If they do not, let whoever wins take over the responsibility for pulling
the country out of its difficulties. (22-9-12)
(The writer
is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi,
and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate
of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com Twitter @SORBONNE75)
