A K Bhattacharya: Deja vu

RAISINA HILL

This not the first time that Manmohan Singh has had to face questions on his integrity.

For Manmohan Singh, accusations that he has not guarded national interest or that he has mortgaged India's sovereignty to American imperialist forces are not new. In December 1991, just as he was preparing to present his second Budget as finance minister under the P V Narasimha Rao government, he was accused of having already shared with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the fiscal and structural reform proposals that he was yet to unveil before the Indian Parliament.

This was a serious charge. Those were the days when the general mindset was almost unequivocally inimical to the World Bank and the IMF, which were seen as an ally of those imperialist forces determined to rob India of its economic sovereignty. The World Bank still had the courage to have a proper office in New Delhi. But the IMF initially operated from a five-star hotel in New Delhi and later moved its office to the first floor of a residential bungalow. And there was no signboard indicating anywhere that it was an IMF office.

It was under these circumstances that Manmohan Singh was accused of having breached Parliamentary privilege. Budget proposals are to be first presented before Parliament and then shared with the people. Opposition political leaders ran a shrill campaign that pointed fingers at a finance minister who had first shared the Budget proposals with the World Bank and the IMF, and then allowed himself to be dictated by these two institutions on what policy proposals he should prescribe for the country. Aiding this campaign were media leaks that published some documents alleging that the finance minister's office had indeed shared information with the two multilateral institutions.

Manmohan Singh was rattled by the campaign. His counter-argument was how could anyone question his loyalty to the nation and commitment to protecting the national interest. He pleaded for time and told his critics that they should judge him when the proposals in his second Budget were presented to Parliament on the last day of February 1992. True to his word, he presented his Budget and also placed before Parliament the documents that the Indian government had presented to the World Bank on fiscal and structural reforms. That put an end to all the political controversy that arose in the wake of those allegations.

But so hurt was Manmohan Singh that even after presenting a path-breaking Budget on February 29,1992, he only expected brickbats and worse. He concluded his Budget speech with the following words: "Sir, I have come to the end of my labour. Tonight, I feel like going to the theatre. Let the assassins be informed. I am prepared to meet their onslaught. As a poet says, 'Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil me hai, dekhna hai zor kitna bazu e katil me hai.' Sir, I commend the Budget to this august House."

In 1994 also, he was under attack for having endorsed the Indian government's move to sign the Marrakesh treaty that led to the emergence of a new global trading regime and the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Left parties were opposed to India signing the treaty which they feared would undermine India's economic sovereignty, wipe out the Indian industry and eliminate the farmers.

Once again it was a tough time for the former Delhi School of Economics teacher. His innate faith in the dynamism of the Indian exports sector was being questioned. In Parliament, Manmohan Singh made a valiant defence of the Narasimha Rao government's decision to join the WTO, even as then Commerce Minister Pranab Mukherjee was sent to Marrakesh to sign the treaty.

Looking back, it is reassuring to find that neither the economic reforms programme nor the signing of the Marrakesh treaty robbed India of its economic sovereignty. Rassuring because the Left and leaders of a few other political parties had predicted doom and catastrophe for the Indian economy if the government implemented the reforms programme and signed the WTO pact. There were even some ridiculous suggestions that instead of embarking on the reforms path, there was a credible alternative route which would allow the country to default on meeting its international payments obligations and yet be bailed out by the international community.

Last week's furore over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and the Left attack launched against Manmohan Singh shows that nothing has changed in India's politics. The Left continues to be paranoid about how the Americans will gobble up India along with its sovereignty. The Congress continues to be sheepish about defending a deal that it has worked on for two years in the belief that it is in the country's long-term interest. Other political parties continue to revel in their opportunistic agenda. And Manmohan Singh continues to be questioned on his understanding of what is good for India "" irrespective of the many gains his reforms programme has yielded for the country.