Dr Manmohan Singh and Montek Singh Ahluwalia were handpicked by the imf and the West to carry out their neo-liberal agenda in a quiet manner outside of the democratic framework (Act II, The Fall of Man, Feb 28). Even Sonia Gandhi cannot overrule these two gentlemen in the economic domain. The PM tolerates corruption because controlling corruption has never been his No. 1 priority. The very fact that the government has only registered cases of tax evasion against Hasan Ali, without investigating how a scrap dealer can amass so much wealth, shows how “serious” they are in curbing corruption.
V.N. Venugopal, New Delhi
The PM pleaded helplessness in fighting corruption due to coalition compulsions. Where was this helplessness when he was pushing the N-deal? And how could he justify low prices for 2G licences by equating them with subsidy on kerosene for the poor? As for the isro deal question, he brushed it off by reading a written statement saying it was being cancelled. No explanations were offered as to how this deal got signed in the first place by his ministry.
Sat Goel, on e-mail
Manmohan Singh can blame coalition partners for the 2G scam. But what about cwg scam kingpin Suresh Kalmadi? He is a Congress MP in Delhi, in a Congress government and everything was happening under the nose of the central government. People are not fools. They know that the Congress is a partner in all scams.
M. Mahmud, Chennai
The PM says one has to put up with a lot when one’s running a coalition, otherwise elections will have to be held every six months. What is wrong with holding elections every six months? An election costs roughly Rs 2,000 crore. The minimum loss in spectrum is about Rs 60,000 crore. Surely, the great economist must know which is the lesser of the two.
V.R. Ganesan, New Jersey
So what if the 2G scam has cost the nation Rs 1.76 lakh crore, the great economist PM has saved the nation a princely Rs 2,000 crore by avoiding a mid-term election!
K. Suresh, Bangalore
Manmohan Singh has become a victim of circumstances. He is too gentle to handle the scale of India’s problems and his team of ministers in the cabinet is not of his choice but that of the Congress president.
N. Anantharaman, Chennai
Had his party allowed him to be a real political boss, Manmohan could have delivered on people’s expectations.
Sanjeev Shukla, Kota
I wonder at this popular idea that Manmohan Singh is an “honest” man. A creature of the World Bank, he was imposed as finance minister by that body, and submitted its policies to Parliament without even bothering to change the language to English (UK) from the original English (US). He chooses to project himself as the prime minister of the nation, has gone on record to state that the people of India love the egregious war-criminal George W. Bush, has made India all but a prisoner of the policies of Bush’s Evil American Empire...without ever having won so much as a municipal election in his life. Where is the “honesty” of Manmohan Singh when it comes to his cabinet colleagues? Where is his “honesty” when it comes to the gigantic slush funds his Congress party wallows in? If this is honesty, then I am Hosni Mubarak.
Biswapriya Purkayastha, Shillong
Since Manmohan’s chances for another term are remote, he should take the opportunity to ensure clean governance. For starters, he should push for a legislation to grant the cbi autonomous status and ensure that the cag report on funds management at the Centre and in the states is respected and strict action taken on them.
G. Munendran, Chennai
Little is going right for the Congress and its Mr Right. It is not just scams that are tumbling out without any let-up, even the party’s efforts at damage control lack their usual savvy. In politics, it is difficult to break a fall once the downslide starts. The Congress today is on that slippery slope.
A.A. Bhimaiah, Arasikere
Lt Gen (retd) Sahni has been court-martialled and the punishment recommended for him is that he be cashiered (the ultimate disgrace of having one’s rank badges removed with a sword by a junior), deprived of pension and other benefits and to serve three years RI in prison for being complicit in the defence forces being fed adulterated rations. It is unlikely that Sahni went to each army services corps depot to ensure adulterated rations of hundreds of crores of rupees were procured and given. By the same measure, shouldn’t Manmohan Singh be tried and sentenced for being complicit in black money flowing abroad?
S.Y. Savur, Bangalore
Corruption is all-pervasive in our country right now; it permeates all levels in the states, districts, municipalities, nagar palikas. We need a strong PM of course to exert pressure on states to clean up their act. But we citizens too have to be active and refuse to be complicit in corruption. If we resist giving bribes and pursue corrupt officials through the judicial system, things might improve. Corruption vigilantes have to target venal politicians and officials, and hound them till they are punished. It’ll require foregoing the immediate gratification of getting work done.
Sajid Khan, Providence, US
Manmohan concedes a total surrender of his prime ministerial prerogatives. The press meet was a staged drama where questions were given to him sufficiently in advance, the answers were not extempore. There was not even a whisper of repatriation of stashed away funds, corruption oozing in all spheres of UPA-II, be it CWG, 2G licences, foodgrain export in times of scarcity, etc.
Shree, Chennai
Manmohan Singh’s interaction with editors of the electronic media simply amounted to this: “I am the prime minister of this country and I have Sonia Gandhi’s say-so to say so.”
Pranjul Saksena, New Delhi
Manmohan Singh is believed to be an honest man. If so, he should in his last term openly expose all the guilty and suspects including, of course, Sonia and her son if they are guilty. The nation will remember him for it and the nature of our polity will change forever.
P.N. Eswaran, Hyderabad
Any self-respecting PM would have categorically said ‘no’ to the blackmailing tactics of the dmk when it insisted on the inclusion of A. Raja in the cabinet the second time. But not our good doctor!
G. Niranjan Rao, Hyderabad
The tragedy of Manmohan Singh is the tragedy of Indian democracy. In a country where one needs money, muscle and media power to be successful in politics, an outsider like Manmohan has nothing.
G. Vijayaraghavan, Chennai
