Being prime ministerial

These are moments that come rarely to prime ministers. Moments when they earn the adjective, 8216;prime ministerial8217;. Before Manmohan Singh rose to reply to Thursday8217;s day-long discussion on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the anxiety in the Rajya Sabha did not draw just from details of the proposed inspection and separation regime. In both Houses of Parliament this session, MPs have been agitated over niggling fears that as legislators they stand isolated from policy orientation and international treaties. The anxiety expressed itself through flirtation with concepts alien to parliamentary democracy like 8216;sense of the House8217;. It is his success in addressing this anxiety that makes Dr Singh8217;s 80-minute reply a milestone in his prime ministerial tenure. He embedded his response to specific objections to the nuclear deal in his long and varied career. The argument: his proven experience in taking a beneficial risk and bringing reform within an existing consensus on what is the national interest. And the objective: to win the legislature8217;s trust for executive decisions.

Much of the drama of Thursday8217;s performance, of course, emanated from the impression that the prime minister had been cornered. Forget allies and opposition, even the 8216;non-aligned8217; wing of his own Congress party was perceived to be enjoying his predicament. The question now is, will Thursday8217;s be the 80 minutes that change Dr Singh8217;s prime ministership? Will the success not just in winning his case but, more importantly, in carrying through a new consensus, inspire him to take his argument directly to detractors? It must. That success already comes laden with hints of lost chances. On disinvestment, for instance. Last month, ostensibly on account of the DMK8217;s opposition to privatisation of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation, he announced a freeze on the entire disinvestment process. This week, amazingly, he sought the trust of Left parties on the nuclear issue by presenting his credentials as an economic reformer. And by first reactions, he has got it.

Almost half the tenure of the UPA government is now past. Not that much time is available to the prime minister to actualise his announcements of economic and administrative reforms. Thursday8217;s success must, funnily enough, increase the pressure on him to proactively construct consensus on those reforms.