The right choice

Manmohan Singh's rise to the highest office in the land is testimony to the many virtues of Indian democracy. Despite the rough and tumble of the process, the end result is usually something that the country is able to celebrate.

In their specific contexts, this was true of the ascension of Morarji Desai, V P Singh, Narasimha Rao and A B Vajpayee. On each occasion, it could have been someone else, but the choice fell on a man who commanded respect for his personal qualities, including integrity, and not just his political abilities.

Indeed, Manmohan Singh is like both Narasimha Rao and Mr Vajpayee in that he was not on centre stage, and found himself unexpectedly in the glare of the arc lights without trying to get there. Those who hanker most for high office don't seem to be the people who get it.

It is also a triumph of the Indian system that a Partition refugee without any privileges of birth and no ballast other than his own abilities, should become prime minister. Dr Singh commands universal respect for his intellectual powers and deep understanding of the levers of the Indian economic system.

Now he must learn to play the political game, not as an aide but as the chief. Fortunately for him, he is able to win support and cooperation with his transparent humility, innate dignity and his spirit of public service.

Over the last decade, he has grown into someone more than just the economic administrator who initiated India's economic reforms. He has learnt to ride out the rough patches with patience, to be faithful to the party even when it seems wayward in its thinking, and to be loyal to the leader.

It is that loyalty and lack of personal motive that has won him Sonia Gandhi's trust and respect. He is not a member of the Lok Sabha, and did not fight the latest elections because of indifferent health, but Dr Singh won respect as the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. At the end of the day, Dr Singh has moral authority "" and that will help him in the trying situations that will certainly come his way.

Being prime minister will not be easy. As a man prone to resigning (he did it at least once as RBI governor and twice as finance minister), he should learn to stay the course and resist the urge to conclude that the game is not worth the candle.

Success will depend on the equation that he maintains with Sonia Gandhi. There will be no shortage of people who will try to queer the pitch between prime minister and party chief, because there are many thwarted ambitions. Dr Singh will also lead a minority coalition government with many internal contradictions, which will come in the way of coherent policy-making and effective action.

He has over the years developed the ability to moderate his own expectations of what he can achieve in a given situation, without seeming to compromise on his core beliefs. And he must know that, on the one hand, many in the Congress party are disappointed with his choice, while in many other circles the expectations are suddenly higher than they were a week ago.

From the party perspective, it can now insulate Ms Gandhi from government performance, and this could be an electoral advantage. From the national perspective, Dr Singh is a prime minister who deserves to succeed.