Opinion India needs Sonia to be its real leader
From the moment that Sonia Gandhi put foot in Indian politics,I have articulated robustly the minority view that it shames India.
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From the moment that Sonia Gandhi put foot in Indian politics,I have articulated robustly the minority view that it shames India to have a Prime Minister who has not been indigenously produced. In 2004,on that hot May afternoon,when Soniajis inner voice told her that it was a bad idea to become Indias Prime Minister,I was among a small handful of Indians who was deeply relieved. It was my considered opinion at the time that if she took the job,her foreignness would be blamed for everything that went wrong. So it might surprise you that this week,when she becomes the longest serving President of the Congress Party,I appeal to her to please take India over as well.
I am not being facetious. The reason why I appeal to her to please take the job (if she thinks Rahul is not ready) is because wherever I go these days I meet people who say they are sick and tired of Dr Manmohan Singh. An India Today poll recently confirmed that his ratings are as low as they have ever been. This is because he is seen as a timid,weak man who is unable to say or do anything until he has permission from 10 Janpath. Everyone knew when he took the job that he was our first Prime Minister to be appointed and not elected and for a while it seemed as if he could pull it off. But,now this awkward arrangement has created the unfortunate and insidious impression that the Government of India is unable to do anything at all.
Whether it is the Chinese building roads on our borders and sending troops to wander about Pakistan occupied Kashmir,whether it is our inability to get Pakistan to deliver the men responsible for 26/11,whether it is ministers shooting their mouths off the Prime Minister seems unable to respond. He just smiles politely and says nothing. This has led to rumours that he is seriously ill. Is he?
Having been a huge admirer of Dr Manmohan Singh since the days when as Finance Minister he changed the Indian economy,I continue to defend him. But,this becomes increasingly hard when people point out that there have been no economic or administrative reforms since that brief,shining moment in the early Nineties. Its true that India has many more billionaires and millionaires than we did in socialist times but why is there no attempt to loosen controls that would benefit poorer Indians? In our towns and cities small traders and shopkeepers continue to battle the license raj. And,our poorest citizens who scrape together a living through pavement shops face not just a license raj but torture at the hands of the Indian state. They are beaten up and their goods confiscated and destroyed daily. Why has life not become easier for them?
Why do we need the Supreme Court to order the Government of India to distribute food grain to the poor rather than have the Prime Minister take such a decision? Why has nothing been done to reform a public distribution system that leaks at every step? Why has nothing been done to reform huge and wasteful anti-poverty programmes that have encouraged corruption rather than reduced poverty? Why do government offices still function as if they do citizens a favour when they give them a passport or allow them to register their property? Why is taxpayers money wasted on armies of clerks who do nothing? Why is something as important as protecting Indias environment still being dealt with in a whimsical,arbitrary fashion instead of through a system of clear rules?
It is my humble opinion that this is because there is nobody in the Government of India who can say with certainty where exactly the buck stops. The ordinary person may think it stops at the Prime Ministers office,but the Prime Minister himself gives the impression that it stops at 10 Janpath. It does not help that every one of his ministers confirms that this is true by running off to seek Sonias approval whenever they are in doubt. Nobody goes running to the Prime Minister for anything.
So please,Sonia Gandhi,become Prime Minister yourself. There is no point any longer in pretending that you are just a social worker totally uninterested in power and pelf. Everyone knows that you are the most powerful person in India at the moment and that the second most powerful person is your son and heir. Immense power cannot come without immense responsibility. Ruling from behind the throne worked in the time of kings and absolute rulers. Democracy demands power with accountability and under your government this rule has been broken for too long.
Follow Tavleen Singh on Twitter @ tavleen_singh
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