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Sunday, May 17, 2009

India's heart still throbs for Manmohan Singh

17 May 2009

NEW DELHI: After Jawaharlal Nehru, Manmohan Singh will be the first Indian premier to serve a second term after a full first term. That, by itself, is an enviable milestone. What is so attractive about 'brand Manmohan', and when did it evolve?

He wasn't supposed to have any kind of individual equity. When Sonia Gandhi nominated him to the post in 2004, he was only the most non-controversial person with absolutely no personal ambitions. For five years, Manmohan has battled the popular perception that he isn't master of himself.

But somewhere along the way, Manmohan showed that there were certain things he believed in, and a few things that he was willing to fight for. There was certainly one thing where he stared down the Left and BJP.

The nuclear deal, which will remain up there with his other legacy of economic reforms, showed the nation that here was a man with a vision for India.

If the nuclear deal had revealed Prakash Karat's intense dislike for Singh, the election campaign brought Singh back into the crosshairs of a very nasty, personalized attack by LK Advani. But this could be one of the reasons that left Advani poorer.

Saturday's results give Singh a completely different profile, a 'brand equity'. Modest to the extreme, Singh was almost mumbling as he stood beside Sonia Gandhi to take a bow. He has never taken the bulldozer path, his consultative style has delayed decisions to the point where he has frequently seemed unsure and undecided. That may not change, but his supporters are hoping he will be a little more assertive this time round.

Talking to friends a couple of days ago, Singh's only concern was for India not to end up with an unstable government when the neighbourhood is in turmoil and the global economic crisis needs skilful handling. There wasn't even a whiff of such a higher sentiment in other leaders' campaigns.

He has a chance now to work on the important things. The economy needs to be fixed and the volatile neighbourhood needs serious attention. He had once said that he wanted to reform energy and education in India. He has worked on the first with the nuclear deal. He now needs to address the second.

Over these years, he has lost some of his trademark diffidence, but not enough, rue his friends. He remains largely untouched by the fact that in the rest of the world, Manmohan Singh has built a reputation for himself. He's a most uninspiring speaker, but hey, what the man actually says is something of importance to say

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