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Journalism of Courage
Lists, like opinion polls, should not be read at face value but for clues. So, Forbes calling Sonia Gandhi the 13th most powerful woman in the world is interesting not because of the precise ranking but courtesy the logic that dictates Mrs Gandhi8217;s relative position. Indeed, Mrs Gandhi herself should carefully study the assessment. Forbes and, it can be said with a fair degree of accuracy, many other neutral Western observers, find Mrs Gandhi as leading the left-wing opposition to Manmohan Singh8217;s reformist policies. Politics is of course more complicated than this. But there8217;s something substantive feeding this perception and Mrs Gandhi hasn8217;t been seen to be doing enough to counter this.
When the UPA government started off, Mrs Gandhi was made out to be the powerful force behind larger government-voluntary sector interaction and better social sector programme implementation. The second aim was, is and will remain, unexceptionable. The first was problematic in theory. It proved so in practice following the resignations of some members of the National
By way of answer we mostly get to hear what a variety of Congress leaders whisper from time to time. These leaders have no interest in the central questions: Can India grow the way it is doing without more reforms? And is the argument about reforms being anti-poor true? Everyone knows where Dr Singh stands on these questions. But where does Mrs Gandhi stand? She has on two occasions, during the Iran vote at the IAEA and during the nuclear deal debate, strongly supported Dr Singh. Anyone observing Indian politics can ask why such clear endorsements have been missing on an issue the PM she chose has core competency in. She needs to make clear her broad agreement with Dr Singh on economic policy. The stakes are much bigger than lists and rankings.
