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Manmohan Singh's less talked
about achievement: Claim 2009
Sach Kanwal Singh
 After the trust vote
of July 22, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has emerged as the King
Cong. The victory slogans, the beating drums, the garlands tossed
all around, all as if some landslide election victory has been won
were being credited to Manmohan Singh.
"This augurs well
for the country’s development and for India’s efforts to take its
rightful place in the comity of nations," Manmohan Singh said after
the vote. But what does it underline for India's first Sikh Prime
Minister himself?
After the newly
emblazoned slogan -- Sasti bijli, sabko bijli, parmanu bijli karar
-- and his deep identification with the Indo-US civilian nuclear
agreement, it seems MMS is bent on giving a political tweak to the
deal's message. Irrespective of what his spin masters manage to put
in the national media, he is really quite a political person. He has
managed to combine the domestic concerns with his global outlook.
And with the vote he
has also won his political spurs. Just read the speech that he was
not allowed to deliver and see the vitriol poured on L K Advani.
Cleverly the Congress got the Muslim faces to support the deal after
cash wads appeared in Parliament.
 MIM’s Asaduddin
Owaisi, the PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, and the NC’s Omar Abdullah
deflected attention from the noisy cash-for-vote allegations.
But then the
currency notes in Parliament seemed to be part of a bid to knock the
halo over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s head.
But has it helped?
Former attorney general Soli Sorabjee was quoted by a news magazine
as saying, "other politicians won’t dismiss him so lightly now that
he has shown he can deliver".
"He’s been in
politics long enough to know he has to compromise," agreed historian
Ramachandra Guha.
But perhaps the more
astute are clear on one thing that MMS has achieved through the July
22 vote: the Congress will now have little option but to project him
as its Prime Ministerial candidate in the next election.
And with Prakash
Karat driving down to Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati’s
residence on Humayun Road in Delhi, the third front's candidate will
have a huge image problem. L K Advani has been warned.
29
July, 2008
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