India is probably the only democracy in which the public has to take on the main stream English media on a daily basis if not on an hourly basis. Coupled with unprecedented levels of corruption that Congress party has perpetrated on us!
Yes we have met with limited success, we hope to continue and bring about changes in the way our country will be governed. Today’s post is in response to “PM redeems his image” by Mr. Pankaj Vohra, Hindustan Times.
“There has been an unseen, but unquestioned power which has been exercising a compulsive influence on decision-making in important matters. This compulsive influence is quite evident in the case of the appointment of the CVC. Whether in matters relating to his appointment despite his facing an incomplete enquiry or the defence of his appointment before the Supreme Court everyone from the Prime Minister downwards has been acting as if they were acting at the instance of an invisible force that could not be resisted. Such an invisible force could be only that of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi.” "The Sphinx In The Room" by Mr.B.Raman This make for interesting reading.
Hindu's editorial - “Yes, but what led to the ‘error'?”
Hindu's editorial - “Yes, but what led to the ‘error'?”
The other interesting aspect of the article by Mr.Raman is it completely and totally debunks the claims of Mr. Pankaj Vohra. Who starts his piece as under.
“By accepting responsibility for the decision to appoint PJ Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) following the apex court’s ruling that the appointment was illegal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has exhibited statesmanship of the highest order.” Dear Mr. Pankaj Vohra every single day there are judgments being pronounced by the courts in India and those convicted are displaying similar levels of statesmanship by accepting the verdicts of the courts of law.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has done nothing extra-ordinary that should be trumpeted in the manner that you are doing. Your actions reek of sycophancy of the highest order and also raise questions if you are indeed the replacement for disgraced Vir Sanghvi of Hindustan Times.
Images are formed and recalled according to the actions of an individual. For example Eklavya literally means ‘a person who keeps his words’. On hearing this name, the image that it conjures up in the mind’s eye is what? Most definitely not that of Manmohan Singh!
Country is governed on the basis of actions and not by images built by PR companies or paid media reports. A compulsion and a necessity is being project as a virtue by you in the present case. Without getting into tu tu mein mein with you let us explore the various images that Dr.Manmohan Singh has, which one of these in your view has he redeemed.
1. Dr Manmohan Singh premiership suffers from an acute deficiency of legitimacy. Simply because he is not a popular choice and has not contested or won an election. “As per the Westminster model, which we follow, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj should be treated as the shadow prime minister.” These are your words in "The starlight is not there for Modi " in Hindustan Times of 19th Sept 2010. Which clearly establish that the Prime Minister should be an elected representative of the people from Lok Sabha.
2. He is not in control of his Cabinet.
3. He has not selected his team of Ministers.
4. Decisions are first taken at 10Janpath he merely works to implement them.
5. Dr. Manmohan Singh is the weakest Prime Minister of India till date.
6. Dr. Manmohan Singh heads the most corrupt Government in Independent India. "This is the most dishonest govt ever:" Jaitley
7. Dr. Manmohan Singh has failed India as an economist. Prices were to be brought down in 100day post 2009 elections.
8. Dr. Manmohan Singh has failed India in Foreign affairs. Sharm el Sheikh
9. Dr. Manhoman Singh has failed to deliver justice to victims of 26/11.
10. Poverty in India has grown under Dr. Manmohan Singh
11. Naxal threat has increased.
Now let us turn our attention to the claim made in this article by Mr. Vohra. One would have tended to agree with the assessment had our Prime Minister who was singularly focused in appointing Mr. P.J Thomas as the CVC even in the face of dissenting note placed on record by the leader of the opposition. Unfortunately display of similar faith in his own conviction is missing; he has not challenged the verdict of the Supreme Court in the appointment of CVC. If the Prime Minster was so convinced about the correctness of his choice why has he not stood up like a man and contested it to the very end?
The decision was patently wrong, Prime Minister had more than ample opportunity to avoid this situation, yet he chose to defend the indefensible. Therefore now for the media to project this as a virtue and redemption of an image is rather misplaced and misleading the nation.
In conclusion I wonder which of the three images posted above has our Prime Minister been able to redeem. I let this choice rest with the readers.
Latest post on this issue as on 8th March 2011
The prime minister cannot plead innocence. Even if Dr Singh had been misled by the censored bio-data -- prepared by a department directly under him -- he was aware of the charges against P J Thomas because the current Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj [ Images ], told him so in plain words. But can you feel sorry for Dr Singh? J M Lyngdoh, the former chief election commissioner, was one of those that challenged P J Thomas's appointment in the Supreme Court. After the verdict he put it bluntly, 'It is not an indictment of Thomas, it is an indictment of the prime minister and the home minister.' "Who doctored P J Thomas's bio-data?" by T.V.R Shenoy
I welcome a debate and discussion on this…As always, please keep your tone civil, your language polite…no sweeping generalisations please and no personal abuse. Thank you.
