Sunday, May 11, 2014

Manmohan's Legacy



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.