Title: The Accidental Prime Minister
Author: Sanjay Baru
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Autobiography
Pages: 320
Rating: 5/5
First of all
I do apologize if I ever said/Rted something about Mr. Manmohan Singh because
after reading this book of Sanjaya Baru, I’m only left with a word “ Respect “.
The image of Manmohan singh which had crushed brutally by media and social activists
( because of wrong reasons ) has revived again,
For me atleast !!
It tells you how an
honest man faces obstacles to maintain his dignity, his moral values.. and How
he restricted by many illegitimate powers. If Readers could manage to see
behind the mirror The picture would be clear, The PM-Manmohan was a person with
lack of authority, punished for his goodness in amidst of dirty politics.
Thanks to Sanjaya
Baru Sir.It’s a Worthwhile Read !
Sharing few
striking parts of book..
1.
One senior leader
told a senior editor, ‘ What does Baru think ? He think doctor sahib ( Dr Singh
) can win us election ? we have to project Rahulji’s image “
…… the PM sat stiff
in stony silence I broke the silence by adding the party wants to give
the entire credit for this decision to Rahul but both you and Raghuvansh Prasad
deserve as much credit.’
I don’t want any
credit for myself he snapped,” after many seconds of deafening silence the PM
said “ let them take all the credit. I don’t need it. I am only doing my work.
You just write my speeches for me. I don’t want any media projection"
2.
Pranab was never so
transparent either in expressing his disagreement or support. After returning
from an important visit to Washington D.C , Pranab chose not to brief the PM
for three days. He had gone to see Soniya Gandhi but had not sought an
appointment with Dr Singh. On the third day I asked Dr singh what had
transpired at Pranab’s meetings with president bush. ‘ I don’t know ‘ his
plaintive reply .
I was taken aback. How
could the foreign minister not have briefed the pm immediately on return?
3.
‘ I dream of a day when, while retaining our respective national
identities, one can have breakfast in America, lunch in Lahore and dinner in
Kabul, that is how my forefathers lived. That is how I want my grandchildren to
live’ – Manmohan singh, FICCI annual genral meeting 2007.
4.
Within a few minutes I was
summoned by the PM. When I met him at home, he looked unusually relaxed,
clearly the burden was now off his shoulders. Yes, he told me, he had spoken to
Sonia the previous day and told her that his position had become untenable. He
also explained what had led to his offer to resign. The Indian side had been
all set to go to the IAEA to negotiate an Indian-specific safeguards agreement
but the left wanted the draft agreement to be shown to them before they
authorized the government to go to the international body. This was impossible,
said the PM. As a secret document, the draft agreement could not be shown
to those not in government until the negotiations with the IAEA has ended.
Moreover, India would be placed in an embarrassing position if, at this stage,
the government chose to stay away from IAEA, on account of the left’s arm
twisting.
It was clear to him
that the left would never support the government. The choice before the
government was, in his mind, obvious: ignore the left and proceed, and agree
with the left and stay put. Explaining this to Sonia Gandhi, the PM had then
told her that if the UPA chose the second option, it would have to find another
prime minister to lead the coalition. Sonia requested Dr singh to sleep on this
issue. When she realized he was serious, she summoned Pranab mukherjee.
5.
Several weeks later, after I joined business standard, I was invited for
a function at 7 RCR. We talked about many things finally he turned to the
subject weighing in both our minds.
He said, ‘ I am
sorry about what happened. You see, you must understand one thing. I have come
to terms with this. There cannot be two centres of power. That creates
confusion. I have to accept that the party president is the centre of power.
The government is answerable to the party.’
I saw no point in
disagreeing with him or contesting his thesis. But of course, I did disagree
with it. The prime minister was answerable to the parliament and the
government was governed by the constitution. The party president was only the
leader of the party. The PM is the leader of the country as a whole and head of
the government.
Each one of us
finds our own rationale for what we do and do not do. He has found his.
6.
He was charged not with
the corruption, but with turning a blind eye to the corruption of others.
7.
There are questions that
will probably haunt Dr Singh too, most of all, why did he not quit when he has
realized he had lost all the vestiges of control over his own government ?
About the Author
Sanjaya Baru was chief editor of the Financial Express and Business Standard. He is currently director for geo-economics and strategy at the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
P.s – A
special thanks to that person who actually bought this book and allowed me to
read.