Staying power

The prime ministers first press conference in the United Progressive Alliances second term came at an interesting moment. The twin threats of Naxalism and rising prices beginning to fray UPA-IIs cohesiveness; and individually,too: he has recently become Indias longest-serving prime minister since Indira Gandhi,something that would cause many people to step back and consider how long they intended to continue,and what they expected to leave behind. But Dr Singh dismissed that almost off-handedly. It is for historians,he said,to judge legacies. He has a task on hand to accomplish. Indeed,the clearest message to emerge from the PMs press conference was his confidence about his own job security,even as he was repeatedly badgered with questions about his legacy,his retirement,his relationship with Congress President Sonia Gandhi,and about any succession plans involving Rahul Gandhi.

That can only be welcome. There has been too much political manoeuvring recently that attempts to figure out a configuration for the 2014 general elections which the Congress,blissfully overconfident,already apparently counts as won. Dr Singhs demeanour makes clear that such gamesmanship has not created insecurity at the top: he is in charge of the cabinet,he seemed to say,and he would continue to be so. Any shoving for prominence will now have to take this assertion into account.

There were other points of interest as well. Nobody will ever expect a press conference from this prime minister to produce screaming headlines; he is measured and gentle with his words. But he spoke at unusual length on the 2G controversy,choosing to play a tricky delivery that he could easily have left alone or defended,Dravid-style,into the ground. It sounded remarkably even-handed: he acknowledged there were questions to be answered; he laid out what Telecom Minister A. Raja had said in his defence; and he reminded the assembled journalists that the CBI and the CVC were on the case. It sounded like he was giving himself some wiggle room for the future. On the subject of Pakistan,he was similarly explicit: the problem,he said,was the lack of trust between India and Pakistan; that talks must put everything on the table. Once again we could glimpse his thinking: the India growth story that he has done so much to spark cannot sustain itself unless a stable,friendly Pakistan emerges to our west. A confident PM,with a few years to work with,might well make that his priority.