Apropos of Subscript Writers (Oct 10), this is not a turf war or a battle over corruption, it is a battle for succession. The unelected, incumbent ‘prime minister’ is finished. There’s already talk of kicking Dr Singh upstairs to the President’s chair next year, where he will serve loyally so that the Gandhi dynasty can claim that it didn’t drop him—that would be an admission of guilt on the part of the Queen, who (like the Pope) is infallible. But the Crown Prince is nowhere near ready to assume power (and probably will never be). So there is a space open for the post of Rubber-Stamp-in-Chief, which these two egotists, Pranab and Chidambaram, assume will come to them. Hence the urgency to finish off the other. It’s more than likely, though, that the Queen will put some other completely spineless non-entity, who, like the current PM, has no political base and is utterly unelectable, into the rubber-stamp's position.
Biswapriya Purkayastha, Shillong
If Chidambaram is a “lightweight”, Pranab Mukherjee is an even lighter weight. One can’t even imagine a Pranab spurred on by PM ambitions, it’s too fantastical. And tell me: who would be most difficult to handle, Chidambaram, Pranab or Manmohan? Why was the controversy raised on the day the latter left for his foreign tour? Is it because he won’t vacate the throne on his own? The political time-frame has been readjusted after Sonia’s sudden, mysterious ailment. There is an unseemly hurry to settle the succession issue.
M.L. Gupta, Delhi
Pranab and the PM are old colleagues from their finance ministry days. They just got together to make sure the rising tide of accusations stops at Chidambaram’s door and didn’t reach the PMO. Once it is established that the FM could have stopped this debacle, the PM automatically gets a clean chit.
Jasbir, Delhi
After Indira Gandhi was murdered, Pranab had thought it was his time. Snubbed, he had even resigned and created a separate party for some time. Will he be second-time lucky?
Ramesh Raghuvanshi, Pune
Gandhi had three monkeys. Had he been alive, he would only have needed a photo of current PM Manmohan Singh or that of the previous one, A.B. Vajpayee. The lessons are bizarre now—hear nothing, see nothing and say nothing.
Akhil Shukla, Jaipur
Manmohan is the main culprit. His statement in America on the finance ministry note, ‘I didn’t see’, is a blatant lie.
Dinesh Chauksey, Bhopal
If anyone in the Congress has the ability to lead the nation, then it is undoubtedly Pranab. The man has always been a keen and skilful political animal, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Now, having wounded PC, he will wait till the prey bleeds out, for irrespective of the Supreme Court verdict, Chidambaram has lost his traction. The people now see him as a culprit along with A. Raja. Pranabda also knows Rahul will not take the top post midway, especially with the party and government mired in scams and together at their lowest ebb. The only other option is A.K. Antony, but the man is afraid of his own shadow and, anyway, if his name is proposed, his Kerala colleagues will surely do the hatchet job themselves. Looks like it is Pranabda’s time.
Chinmay, Hyderabad
So now a desperate Manmohan is taking his cues from the conspiracy theorists. He’s swallowing the line that rightists-backed-by-corporates want to topple the upa. Strange theory, for why would India Inc want a government which has been favouring the billionaires at the expense of the exchequer in successive budgets to fall?
Viswanath V., Kurnool, AP
Chidambaram and the PM cannot wish away their involvement in the 2G scam. Both were dependent on the dmk, be it to win elections in Tamil Nadu, as was the case with PC, or prop up the government in the nuke deal (Manmohan).
Charan Dewry, Guwahati
The only silver lining to this entire sordid 2G episode is the apex court prodding the emasculated investigating agency to do its job, with periodic injections of testosterone.
M.A. Raipet, Secunderabad
Journalism like this is fodder for the cocktail party circles. Your so-called key players, Manmohan, PC and Pranab, can barely win their own seats in Parliament (indeed, the first named can’t even do that).
Rajesh, Phoenix, US
This whole episode is nothing but rubbish...because the core issue is our nation losing Rs 1.75 lakh crore. A scandal of this proportion ($40 billion), the largest in any independent country, would have at least brought down the government. Ours is surviving.
Ken, St Louis, US
This is not journalism but pure speculation.
DC, New York
It never ceases to intrigue me why these political pundits try to keep the pot boiling till Prince Charming is ready to take control of the country. The Gandhi family sycophants may think that it’s his genetic entitlement but I am sorry, the country thinks otherwise. We have moved on, irreversibly.
P.H. Bhanage, Mumbai
After a long time, one has come across a balanced article in Outlook. The sad part is the BJP, despite such a golden opportunity, has not been able to capitalise on the situation. Anna, the Supreme Court and Subramanian Swamy are the real heroes here.
Navien K. Batta, Muscat
