BATTERED & BRUISED

Battered & Bruised

Manmohan Singh’s speech in the Parliament accepting "an error of judgment" in the appointment of the CVC has severely dented his image. He looks weak & meek and a Prime Minister loosing control. The soft spoken man looked helpless and compromised due to compulsions of coalition politics and corrupt and inefficient ministers. Here is a man whose strongest asset is his integrity but who during his six and half years in power has been badly bruised and wounded by political maneuverings of his own party as well as those of the opposition. Singh's low-key manner may have impressed President Obama, but his mild-mannered style is wearing thin at home, with many Indians arguing that the country needs a firmer hand. The PM is beginning to look out of his depth in the cut and thrust of coalition politics.

Just a few days back while addressing a rare press conference, the reticent Mr.Singh appeared confident and bothered by how India's image might have been damaged by the media coverage of the rising tide of corruption. He gave reassurances that the government was "dead serious" in bringing to book "all the wrongdoers regardless of the positions they occupy". But that confidence was severely dented by the CVC fiasco. The blame game is still on in fixing the accountability for missing out the vital information of the charge sheet against Mr. Thomas. The result as to where the buck will finally stop is still awaited. We Indians may be inured to corruption, but the recent spate of allegations in the CVC case has taken the common man’s breath away. The developments on the Thomas case and its fallout could have serious repercussions on the way relations between the Prime Minister and his party are going to evolve in the near future.

The confidence which the PM spoke about the need for a "spirit of rejuvenation, and a spirit of self confidence.” at his press conference needs to be rekindled by renovating the credible mechanism of his government. This spirit is beginning to be visible in the thrust which the CBI is marching in the 2G scam. The speed and scope of the current investigation, has been unrivalled by anything India has witnessed so far. The same Prime Minister whose silence and ambivalence on 2G was seen by the Opposition and the public at large as weakness and even complicity has pushed the Central Bureau of Investigation into summoning and questioning top industrialists like Anil Ambani, raiding Kalaingar TV, the business arm of a key political ally, the DMK, questioning Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi, and sending A. Raja, who was Telecom Minister till some time ago, to the confines of Tihar Jail. These are extraordinary developments by any yardstick and government managers have let it be known that there is further excitement in the offing. Such demonstrable action - and not stirring words alone - will rejuvenate the spirit of a nation which lives in hope and despair simultaneously.

Manmohan Singh is not a traditional stereotype politician. But someone who knows which side his bread is buttered. He is conscious of his strengths despite his numerous weaknesses. Unfortunately the Nation has no other choice at present. The Government and the PM still has much time left to salvage its image and boost up the mood of the citizens. Let us hope that Manmohan Singh may have been battered and bruised by the scams but he is not yet over