General
Elections 2014, one the most bitterly fought elections in the history of
independent India is finally coming to an end. In the next few days, faith of
every candidate and party will be decided as voting ends and counting begins.
As the political
drama unfolds one man is quietly getting ready to walk into the sunset. Renowned
economist, father of economic reforms & liberalization in India and the man
who lead UPA Government, Dr Manmohan Singh bids good bye to
public life.
Dr Singh lead one
of the most successful and progressive governments in the history of
independent India, but equally marred with controversial scams, he was blamed
for being non-communicative and was targeted unfairly as a puppet in the hands
of Sonia Gandhi.
Dr Singh’s last
2-3 years in office has been his toughest, an over critical media, obstructive opposition
and anti-corruption movements across the country took a toll on communication.
Dr Singh is not known for being aggressive; his dignified approach was mostly interpreted
as his incapability to act tough. A soft spoken Dr Singh was attacked
constantly by a barrage of media and opposition sometimes with a pre-set
agenda.
Today as Dr
Singh gets ready to leave office, there is a sadness that surrounds, call it
the era of sound-bites or a well planned propaganda by the opposition, UPA
Government and the Indian National Congress failed to aggressively put across
the achievements of Dr Singh lead Government.
The biggest
failure of Dr Singh lead government was simply lack of aggressive and
relentless communication. As main stream media looks for stories from the
social media, lack of proactive communication from UPA Governments only added
to its list of trouble. One may argue that its fatigue, rarely any government
has successfully completed its 2 terms in office.
As India stands at
cross roads, and is fighting an ideological battle, facts got replaced with rhetoric
and parliamentary elections is fought as presidential one from one end of the spectrum.
A bitterly fought election has over shadowed the achievements of Dr Singh lead
UPA Government, and only time will tell how Dr Singh’s Government will be viewed as
the election dust settles.
No one knows
what Dr Singh would do next, but I firmly believe that history will judge Dr
Singh kindly and will attribute the India Growth story to Policies he laid out
during his tenure. Why shouldn’t it, there cannot be a better person to lead
India than Dr Singh, and even during the most tough economic times he put India
ahead.
Whatever maybe the outcome of General Elections 2014 Dr Singh will indeed have the last laugh, and time will reconcile to the fact that he was ‘NO Accidental Prime Minister’.
Thank You Dr Manmohan Singh for building a Liberalized and Inclusive India, I am glad that India had a Prime Minister like you.
- Kavitha Reddy