Everybody loves Mr Congeniality

Known as the man with no enemies, Dr Manmohan Singh managed to achieve in Punjab what few others have done: attain respect among the Akali legions reared on the anti-Congress doctrine. The Akalis bestowed on him the honour of Nishan-e-Khalsa at tercentenary of the Khalsa celebrated under then Akali CM P.S. Badal. The honour, says Badal, was given to him in recognition of his service to the community.

Mr. Non-Controversy of the Indian politics, he managed to keep in touch with the state Congress affairs without dirtying his hands in petty squabbles. During the innumerable times when the state Congress grappled with intra-party feuds, Dr Singh was the party high command’s inevitable choice to douse the fires. When then state party chief Capt Amarinder Singh and his bete noire Rajinder Kaur Bhattal indulged in turf-wars before the 2002 Assembly polls, Manmohan steered the party, heading the co-ordination committee.

During his trips to Punjab, his standard response to queries on Punjab-specific issues used to be: ‘‘I don’t want to comment on that, I don’t want to meddle in state politics.’’

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When dissidence exploded in Punjab Congress last December, Manmohan’s house was the venue for many a meetings where ice was broken.

During the recent election campaign, when he was asked about Punjab’s loan waiver issue on which Amarinder had joined issue with Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal, Dr Singh’s answer was: ‘‘I believe what the CM is saying must be true, but I have no access to the files. All I can say is that Punjab must be helped on this issue.’’

But it was not just his refusal to stay clear of the Congress feuds in Punjab, but also his ability to keep lines of communication open with the Akalis, which underlined his importance in state affairs.