Rattled by growing criticism of his government and a visible rift between its ministers, Manmohan Singh sought to set the record straight on Monday.
The prime minister said there was nothing wrong in ministers expressing different views on issues of public importance.
To buttress his argument, he compared the expression of divergent views to the era of the late Jawaharlal Nehru, when ministers would write to PM. “It is not necessarily a bad thing,” Manmohan said.
He claimed that his cabinet functioned with a “much greater degree of cohesion” than even the first cabinet headed by Nehru. Then deputy prime minister and home minister Sardar Patel would write a letter to PM almost on a daily basis, Manmohan said.
Talking informally to a group of editors at his residence, the prime minister maintained that there was no disconnect between his government and Congress. “Allowing people to express views is not necessarily a sign of a rift,” PM said, adding, “I can’t say I will shut up every colleague.”
In his free-wheeling 80-minute interaction, Manmohan enlightened the editors that there were differences between Indira Gandhi and her deputy Morarji Desai. In Mrs Gandhi’s time a group of “young Turks” led by Chandrashekhar openly constituted a dissident group.
Political observers believe PM decided to hold the interaction to control the damage done by the various scams, ministers fighting with each other in public, senior Congress leaders attacking ministers and his ranking taking a big dip. Even ‘The Economist’, a leading news magazine, came down heavily on his “bad governance”.
Not retiring
PM once again rejected suggestions that he should retire and indicated that he was firmly in control. Only a couple of months ago he had said the same thing at a press conference. When a questioner suggested that it appeared his government was “marking time” while Rahul Gandhi was “spreading his wings”, he laughed. In any case, politics was a competitive game, he said.
Contrary to reports, PM gave no time-frame for an impending cabinet reshuffle, but said with a chuckle, I would like to reduce the average age of my cabinet.
Maoist problem
About the Maoist problem, he said it was one of the greatest security challenges to which there was no “quick fix”. He favoured a two-pronged approach of addressing valid economic and social concerns and at the same time, enforcing law and order.
Chidambaram’s the man
The prime minister complimented home minister P Chidambaram for doing an “exceedingly good job”.
About Chidambaram’s complaint that he had a limited mandate in dealing with the Maoist menace, he responded, “All of us have a limited mandate.”
Mum on Raja
About the action his government planned to take against telecom minister A Raja, who faces serious allegations of corruption in the 2G spectrum scam, he said, “The matter is sub-judice.”
Manmohan rejected criticism that his main priorities remained ties with the US and Pakistan and broader economy.
He said paying attention to foreign policy issues did not mean that he was not focused on other issues.
