Sonn after Time magazine labelled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh an ‘Underachiever’, the noted American news daily, Washington Post, has referred to him as a “tragic figure”.
The daily has said Singh’s image is of a "dithering, ineffectual bureaucrat presiding over a deeply corrupt government".
The string of scams that his UPA-II govrenment has been enmeshed has entrenched this impression of late; it has said, with his present image being a far cry from that as the highly feted ‘initiator of economic reforms in India.’
The government and its allies have, however, dismissed this latest criticism as “subjective” and “lacking journalistic ethics.” Information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni told Business Standard: “It is incumbent on journalists representing foreign media to ensure all points of view are accessed and there is an objective assessment, especially when it is of constitutional figures like the Prime Minister. I do not see any viewpoint taken from the Prime Minister’s Office or the PM.”
Adding: “I would like to remind Simon Denyer (the writer) that PM Manmohan Singh and the UPA won a second term and he is in his ninth year as Prime Minister. When the US was reeling under the rigours of economic slowdown, it was Dr. Singh who succeeded in ensuring that India had a growth of 9.4 per cent. Every leader has his own style of functioning and Dr. Singh’s is a quiet and unassuming style. But that does not make him ineffectual or his governance ineffectual.”
Supporting the government’s defence is UPA’s constituent, the Trinamool Congress. Its leader, Sultan Ahmed, said he condemned the view.
“Manmohan Singh has been successfully leading a coalition government. There has been a financial bottleneck here, not like that in the US. The USA and Europe should be looking into their own backyard and their own affairs first. We may have differences with the economic policies of the UPA, which we see as anti-people but that does not make this UPA government ineffectual. Rather, this government has brought about social harmony and unity in diversity,” he said.
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However, the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said the Post had only confirmed its own view. Prakash Javadekar, party spokesman, said, “This is how the world views our country now and its leadership. There is a complete lack of governance in the country. The Prime Minister is in office but he is not in power. The power lies with 10 Janpath (residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi) and this odd structure of governance has started showing in policies and governance.”
Even prior to Time calling Manmohan Singh an ‘underachiever’, The Independent daily in the UK had referred to him as "Sonia's poodle", reporting “he (Singh) has no genuine political power. Rather, he owes his position to Sonia Gandhi, widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Congress Party chairwoman, who to the delight of India's middle class selected him for that role when her party won a surprise victory in 2004.”