Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dismissed talk that he is a lameduck Prime Minister as clever propaganda by the Opposition, and claimed that he had got maximum co-operation from Sonia Gandhi, whom he praised for having done a superb job as Congress President.
He was addressing a meeting of senior editors, including T N Ninan (Chairman, Business Standard), Raj Chengappa (Editor-in-chief, Tribune), Kumar Ketkar (Editor, Divya Marathi), Alok Mehta (Editor, Nai Duniya) and M K Razdan (Editor-in-chief and CEO, Press Trust of India) in New Delhi.
In response to the possibility of a cabinet reshuffle, the Prime Minister said that work on this issue was 'in progress', but refused to disclose when the reshuffle would take place.
Singh was also critical of the media and said that it had become "accuser, prosecutor and judge" and, referring to the anti-corruption launched by Anna Hazare, said his government would reach out to civil society but no group could insist on foisting its views as the last word.
The Prime Minister also stated that he had no hesitation in bringing himself within the ambit of the Lok Pal Bill. However, many of his Cabinet colleagues felt that bringing the institution of the Prime Minister under the Bill would create instability. He said his government would find a way out on Lok Pal and try for a consensus.
Singh, however, asserted that while a strong Lok Pal was needed, it would not be a panacea. He reiterated that his government was committed to pursuing whatever was feasible to deal with blackmoney, tax evasion and corruption but that it could not be a one-shot operation. He said Police action against Ramdev's supporters at Ramlila Maidan was unfortunate but there was no alternative.
On the issue of phone tapping, the Prime Minister said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had complained to him about suspected bugging of his offices and that he (Singh) had ordered Intelligence Bureau to investigate. He said the issue was now a closed chapter.
