Ashok Bhattacharya’s column points to the basic problem facing the country’s polity, that is, the crisis in leadership (“PMO and the PM,” February 28). The three instances of open defiance of the prime minister (PM) by people of lesser status are only symptoms of a deeper malaise. Jairam Ramesh had done it before. A few years ago, just a couple of days before the PM was to leave for Brazil to sign an economic cooperation agreement, he publicly ridiculed the idea of two countries competing in the international field doing it. Instead of dropping him from the Cabinet for causing embarrassment, the PM, through his secretariat, issued a meek press release saying it was the minister’s personal opinion! The question is whether the minister would have done it if the PM were an Indira Gandhi or a Rajiv Gandhi. He could get away with it because of his perceived closeness to the party chief. If the Congress president turns a Nelson’s eye to such indiscipline, she must be having her own reason that can be easily guessed. Every now and then some minister or party leader asks for the replacement of Manmohan Singh by Rahul Gandhi. The PM says he is prepared to vacate his seat if asked by the party chief or her son! Is it a case of tenancy in South Block or holding the post of the head of the world’s largest democracy?
A Seshan Mumbai
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