Prime Minister's Media Interaction

Manmohan’s Interaction with media<
‘Culprit’ but not that much
Caught in adharma of ‘coalition dharma’

By Amba Charan Vashishth

Prime Minister Dr. Manohan Singh went in for an interaction with editors of electronic media. In sum, he made the following important points.

Dr. Manmohan Singh admitted that he is “a culprit but not that much” as is being painted by the media.

He thinks that his duty ends with attending only to those matters that are brought to his notice by the ministers or his office. He has nothing to do with what goes on below his nose in various ministries of the government over whom he presides.

He doesn’t feel responsible for what right or wrong goes on in the PMO or the department of space research (ISRO) directly under him. He admits that he received a letter in July 2010 regarding S-spectrum and if he failed to take action, to guide the department how to act and to prevent a wrong that was committed and for which the nation, according to one estimate, is to be made to cough up a loss of about ` 2 lakh crores is not his business.

On 2G spectrum scam he forgot that he had given a clean chit to his former telecom minister A. Raja and even publicly patted his back after Raja resigned. He admits that he told Mr. Raja to do everything in a transparent manner according to his government’s policy and according to rules. He further said: “f the ministry of finance and ministry of telecom both agree…I did not feel I was in a position to insist that auctions must be insisted” an admission of helplessness. Yet he is the prime minister.

As per Press reports (The Times of India, February 17) Finance Minister P. Chidambaram wrote to Prime Minister that “…if a licensee sells his licence (including spectrum) to another person, it could be stipulated that the licensee should share with govt a part of the premium/profit gained…through the sale”.. If not PM, who was to do it? Why did PM not act and issue any direction to Mr. Raja?

Dr. Manmohan Singh did confess that a number of scams did take place under his regime but tried to explain these away as “aberration”. So many scams, yet these are all ‘aberrations’.

He refused to accept responsibility for what went on in his council of ministers. The council of ministers is individually and collectively responsible for all the acts of omission and commission. He tried to feign ignorance about the provisions of Article 75(3) of the Constitution which says: “The Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House of the People”.

Some time back Dr. Manmohan Singh did take pride in comparing his government to that of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. But he forgot that in Nehru’s cabinet ministers resigned the moment a finger of suspicion was raised at them. But Dr. Manmohan Singh himself is bold to declare that nobody can be held guilty till convicted by a court of law. Whether it was the then finance minister T. T. Krishnamachari and others, they resigned the moment their names appeared in a bad colour. Late Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned in 1956 when 144 people were killed in a train accident. Late Shastri was not driving the railway train himself, nor was he a station master or the signal man. Yet he resigned taking moral responsibility for the mishap. But here is the Manmohan government where none, including the prime minister, has the courage to take moral responsibility for the numerous scams that have taken place under this government. Yet Dr. Manmohan Singh compares his cabinet with that of Pandit Nehru.

Dr. Manmohan Singh said that opinions can be different but “facts are sacred”. But he, or his government, did not treat the facts pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on 2G spectrum scam. His ministers and party imputed motives to the conduct of CAG, an institution of the Constitution.

More surprising was his comparing the loss calculated in the issue of 2G spectrum with the food subsidy. Was his government extending a subsidy to those whom it gave spectrum licences at the cost of the nation? The food subsidy helped the poor to have if not two, one meal, a day. What did the 2G spectrum favours do to the aam aadmi, except filling the pockets of the rich? And that is the allegation against Raja and his government. Only thing he has so far not admitted is that a part of the ‘subsidy’ granted by Raja has percolated to the accounts of some leaders.

He was very aggressive when he put the blame on the opposition for not allowing the two houses of parliament to function during the last winter session on the issue of JPC. He tried to wipe out the impression that he stood in the way of JPC formation as he feared appearing before it. He declared he is ready to appear before both the PAC and the JPC. But now that the Congress seems to have almost conceded the opposition demand for JPC, does it not mean that had the Congress party not been that adamant and unrelenting, the whole winter session would have been saved and parliament functioned normally?

It is difficult to say how proud he felt as a prime minister when he said he did not differ with his Home Minister Chidamabaram who had said that Manmohan government suffered from a “governance and ethical deficit”.

Dr. Manmohan Singh declared that no wrongdoer shall be spared. But when did he not say that? But during the last about seven years of his prime ministership, how many people who did “wrong” have been punished?

He said that “some compromises have to be made in managing a coalition” which conduct he labeled as coalition dharma. But what is important – the interests of the nation or “compromises” to stick to power? Does his “coalition dharma” preach to follow Mahatma Gandhi’s legendary monkeys who speak no evil, hear no evil and see no evil? Does this “dharma” require promoting corruption and promoting the corrupt?

To a pointed question, Dr. Manmohan Singh said he had no plans to quit. He admitted that things were “not entirely what I would like them to be”, yet he had had a job to do and would “stay the course”.

But in May 2010 he is on record having praised Rahul Gandhi saying he had all the qualities to be a prime minister and he expressed his readiness to vacate his chair for Rahul. Dr. Manmohan is not ready to quit accepting moral responsibility for being cornered from all sides from corruption indulged in by his colleagues, but meekly surrender. ***