Discussing legacy is a tricky proposition. It is even harder when the past is still very recent and fresh. The nuances are obviously the first casualty but more than that, the emotions are still so raw that any analysis loses objectivity. In case of Manmohan though the dice on his legacy was cast the very moment he chose to accept his ‘selection’ as a PM of India. His term as a PM has still few days left but the narrative has long reached the conclusion.
By far and large Manmohan is usually considered as a clean
and non-corrupt person. After Vajapayee, he may be the cleanest PM of India. The
recently published book on Manmohan steadfastly holds the notion of him being
absolutely non-corruptible. He has never received any bribes or monetary favors
for himself or for his family and that he takes immense pride at it.
Substantial majority in India also buys into this narrative. To be honest, I
find that belief silly. The UPA regime has birthed scams of such a staggering
scale that people like to take solace by saying at least our Prime Minister was
not corrupt. It is as if Manmohan is a lotus flower amidst wretched sycophants
of congress party. Though calling him a lotus flower is quite funny in current
politically charged environment.
I think Manmohan is a vile old man who is morally and
ethically corrupt. He is immoral because allegiance was to Sonia rather than to
our nation. And he is unethical because in spite of knowing the rampant
corruption that was happening under his watch, he refused to stop the corrupt
or at worse, resign for his failure. A lifelong congress crony, his zeal to
protect Sonia was his undoing and electing him twice was India’s.
When Sonia selected him as our PM, Manmohan clearly knew
what he was getting into It was a master stroke on her part. Manmohan had a
clean image and he was mostly a non-controversial figure. The regional parties
could sell Manmohan to their constituencies easily and then could flock for an
alliance with Congress. And that’s exactly what happened. Perhaps, Manmohan
should not have agreed for this situation. If successful he, at best, was
keeping seat warm for Rahul Gandhi or at worse, he would be a scapegoat for the
Party’s failure. He knew that but he still opted for him. So his
non-corruptibility is irrelevant. He was hungry for the power and decided to be
the Prime Minister. Then, how can he not be blamed for all the despicable
scandals that happened under his watch?
Ethics and morality are slippery concepts. But at root
level, it is about setting self-imposed standards to abide by. Manmohan should
have done scenario analysis and stress testing before accepting the Prime
Ministership. That would have helped him in drawing a moral and ethical
framework for himself. For example, what
would I do if a bill that I feel is good for the country is rejected by Sonia?
Or as an economist, would I commit hundreds of billions of rupees that do not
exist to a social reform package just because Sonia wants it? How much
corruption would I tolerate and where do I draw the line and resign? Do I work
for the country or Sonia? One can argue that his personal incorruptibility was
his moral and ethical framework but being in a public serving environment his
framework should include what he would do when people around him, people who
work for him are to become corrupt. I
don’t think Manmohan did that. He did not take any measures to check unsavory
activities within the government and limit the interference / influence of
ex-constitutional authorities like NAC. So his personal non-corruptibility
framework is not only inadequate but in fact, highly unethical. He may not have
taken bribes for himself or for his family but he is corrupt in every other
sense.
I keep asking myself, why didn’t he resign? His inabilities as
politician are quite evident but any sane individual would say ‘f&*k this
s^&t, I am leaving’. Actually, he
did use his ‘resignation’ weapon, as per Sanjay Baru’s book, during Nuclear
Deal sign-off saga. The party and Sonia were not for the deal but Manmohan had
already personally promised the deal to Obama and US. In this intra-party,
intra-government stand-off Manmohan came out on the top in spite of
intervention from Sonia. They obviously couldn’t afford his resignation. So the
deal was signed. Alas, that was the extent of Manmohan standing up for
something, being in charge. He went back to being a mute spectator after that.
There is an underlying reason as to why Manmohan acted the
way he did. I touched this point briefly in the beginning. Manmohan wasn’t
working for our country. He was working for Sonia. His allegiance was towards
Gandhi family, not towards India. He was more worried about keeping Gandhi
family intact than work towards betterment of India. That means him resigning
would have endangered Gandhi family’s hold on power. Manmohan couldn’t possibly
allow that; our nation be damned.
What kind of legacy Manmohan leaves? A not so great one, to
say the least. Manmohan is nothing but a power-hungry, Gandhi family sycophant
who presided over numerous scams and number of ghastly terrorist attacks; a morally
corrupt and highly unethical individual who demoralized not just the government
mechanism but also our armed forces. He and his government have left their
incompetent and corrupt fingerprints on every facet of country. No one will
remember A. Raja or Kalmadi, history will remember this as a Manmohan
government. And as if this wasn’t enough then he will always be remembered as a
person who handed baton to Rahul Gandhi. Yep, the tragedy just continues.
