Independent India has had 14 Prime Ministers. [List] , before Dr. Manmohan Singh, all 14 have had their own merits and demerits. Each and every one of them has a tale of their own successes and failures to tell, yet none of them were ever marketed so intensely by the media over a prolonged period as Dr. ManMohan Singh.
Why the incumbent Prime Minster has had to rely so heavily on media to make his presence felt in the country? What is it that he lacks when compared to others who occupied the august office of Prime Minister? Who is responsible for this state of affairs?
Check with any Public Relations company or Brand Management outfit. Brand building is an extremely intensive process and there are time constraints in this if the exercise is not completed in the shortest possible time, it becomes very difficult to market that product(s).
Media has been involved since 2004 in converting Manmohan Singh into a cult of impeccable personal honesty and integrity. Now we are in 2011 almost 8 years yet there are more question marks against this Brand. There are inherent defects which were concealed willfully by the brand builders, even to this day they are operating in denial mode. Congress friendly media propounds three new myths. There have been numerous attempts made by media to somehow push this down our throat and gag us. People have not been able to swallow, that all the corruption and scams that have emerged could have been perpetrated without his knowledge; since I have no means of independent corroboration of personal involvement so would be improper to allege any personal wrongdoing.
However that does not mean as the head of the Cabinet and Government PM can be completely absolved of the responsibility or taint. There are acts of commission and then there acts of omission, the indictment would follow naturally. Further more the efforts by the media have become self defeating, since corruption in the media has been exposed and the public is justifiably incensed about what has come to light.
The hash realities have surfaced, every charge has been met with standard phrases “I Did Not Know.” “I am not aware.” I am Honest I have not indulged in Corruption.” Do these, would these assertions by Dr. ManMohan Singh wash with the people of India, leave alone the Political parties, guess not even Congress would buy these.
Pressing the PM - by Karan Thapar, Hindustan Times March 19th 2011 is yet another attempt in the same direction. Needless to say it is doomed to fail, far too much has come to surface and no cogent response has been forthcoming from the Prime Minister.
I am reminded of a couple of idioms that we were taught in school “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.” “Handsome is he who does handsome.” Taking it further in the same vein! Is honesty to be measured only in terms of Money? I would say no, it should also be measured in terms of intent and action. Has Dr. Manmohan Singh passed the test of intent and action for being called honest? Emphatic answer is No he has failed himself and the nation by not acting and visibly demonstrating his intent to curb corruption, mere statement of intent to punish the guilty or no one will be spared, no longer impress Indians. 63years of history does not give us any hope that we are about to see a marked change or new path is going to be charted out to prevent corruption and punish those guilty of looting the country.
Latest update on 19th Nov 2011
These are the comments posted on Hindustan Times site by visitors who have read the article by Karan Thapar these are 6/57.
“What is one to make of Manmohan Singh? Is he a clean politician forced by circumstance to travel with a boatload of crooks? A radical economic reformer trapped in the wrong party at the wrong time? Or is he just plain incompetent and irresponsible?” "Our PM - zero to hero to Nero"
Latest update on 19th Nov 2011
“If PM is not the ultimate authority, then who is? It has been successfully passed to the Chairperson of the NAC, and the Congress President, Sonia Gandhi (full list of her “achievements” here). The NAC she leads is the parallel decision making authority when it comes to policy matters. Sonia Gandhi is the parallel decision making authority when it comes to political matters. Manmohan Singh is the decision making authority when it comes to maintaining status quo!” Link
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.
