COOL BREEZE

SO BE IT
No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come, said Dr Manmohan Singh in his budget speech in 1991. But to misquote Victor Hugo just a bit, no power on earth can stop a recognition whose time has come. Dr Singh was much undervalued during his tenure as Prime Minister, from2004 to 2014. He had then famously stated that history would be much kinder to him than contemporary media and the opposition. He could have added the opposition within as well, for there were many of his colleagues within the party who wanted his job and lost no opportunity to destabilise him. But Dr Singh did not have to wait that long for history to deliver a kinder cut. Much before he died he was able to see for himself the same people who belittled him turn to him for advice and appreciation. At least he got that to take with him on his onward journey.
In fact, most recall Dr Singh as being mild-mannered, sensitive to the point of being thin-skinned; except when it came to the nuclear deal and his famous “So Be It” missive to the Left when they wanted to walk out of his government. And when the Left did take him up on his words, the economist turned PM was politically smart enough to approach the right person to cobble up an alternative. It was Dr Singh who turned to Amar Singh to get the Samajwadi Party on board. This incident is well known but there is another not so publicised quip that was a telling marker about his politically savvy temperament. Soon after he became PM in 2004, he had to accommodate cabinet ministers from other parties, some with tainted records. Because he had no choice he took them in but he knew that he was in for a grilling by the media. When asked by his then media advisor Dr Sanjaya Baru, if he would like to freshen up before meeting a hostile press, the then PM replied: Kya sher kabhi kullah karta hai (does a lion ever rinse his mouth)? Clearly, when the need arose, this Singh knew well how to be the King. Travel well, Dr Singh, for India owes you one.

THE GANDHIS’ EQUATION WITH DR SINGH
While Dr Manmohan Singh was Sonia Gandhi’s choice as Prime Minister, there has been much speculation about the exact nature of the equation between the Gandhis and the former PM. But there is little doubt that they had a decent if not a transactional working relationship during the UPA years, for Dr Singh was the reformist face of the government, while Sonia Gandhi and her National Advisory Council were the welfare wing. Of course with Sonia on board the latter had more heft, but when it came to the crunch, such as the nuclear deal, which destabilised the UPA government, Sonia let Dr Singh have his way. As far as Rahul is concerned, he did not accept Dr Singh’s overtures to join the government but has referred to him as his mentor in his farewell tweet. In fact in the run-up to the 2009 polls, at the release of the party’s manifesto, when asked as to who would be the Prime Ministerial face from the Congress (at that time the speculation was that Rahul Gandhi could take the leap), Sonia Gandhi said nothing but picked up the party manifesto which had Manmohan Singh’s face on it, apart from Rahul’s, and put her hand over the latter’s photograph, indicating that her choice was still Dr Singh.
As soon as news of Dr Singh’s demise came in, both Priyanka and Sonia were one of the first to reach AIIMS, and it was in fact Robert Vadra who broke the news much before the AIIMS official communique came out. The Gandhis were also present at the Singh residence when visitors dropped in to pay their last respects and announced that the final farewell would be from the party office at 24 Akbar Road. Very much unlike the fate of another former non-Gandhi Prime Minister.

WOMEN POWER
Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Vice President, recently hosted some women members of the media at his house for a brunch together. Both the Vice President and his wife made affable hosts, clicking photographs amidst much banter. During his speech the Vice President talked about women power in Parliament and outside. Amongst the few he listed, he singled out former ambassador and ex UN Assistant Secretary General Lakshmi Puri, as a great author and a global icon. And then added, she is also married to Hardip Puri, Union Minister for Urban Development, and that is his (Hardip’s) description. Clearly, the VP had the last word on that.