NEW
DELHI - The image that most residents of the national
capital have of Manmohan Singh, due to be sworn in as
India's next prime minister Saturday, is that of a
diminutive, turbaned man patiently steering his small
car through a chaotic sea of sleek limousines, hulking
buses and slow-moving pedicabs.
That image
probably portrays best the soft-spoken economist who, as
finance minister between 1991 and 1996, is credited with
steering India's overprotected economy - dominated by
monopolistic business families and an inefficient public
sector - through a difficult first phase of reforms.
"Manmohanomics" was blamed for the 1996
electoral defeat of the venerable Congress party, which
had always styled itself as a pro-poor, socialist party
ever since it assumed charge of the country in 1947 when
India gained independence from British colonial rule.
But both the left-dominated United Front government
which took over in 1996 and the right-wing,
ultra-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which
followed in 1998, only deepened and widened the reforms
initiated by Singh.
Now, the "Good Doctor", as
the newspaper headlines often describe Singh, partly in
deference to his impressive academic credentials, is
back in the driver's seat - this time as prime minister
after Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi declined the
nomination on Wednesday.
Curiously enough,
Singh's installation in the top job has been made
possible by a public angered by a pro-rich reforms
regime run by the outgoing BJP. The ousted ruling party
harped on a "Shining India" election motto that
boomeranged because the average voter felt excluded from
the benefits of such reforms. Those uncharitable to the
Congress party would say that its rather unexpected
electoral victory in the staggered April/May elections
was in fact the result of a negative vote against the
BJP - rather than any endorsement of its own pro-reform,
economic policies of the past.
But clearly, both
Singh and the Congress party itself are creatures that
now have the wisdom and hindsight of 13 years of reforms
at which governments at either end of the political
spectrum have had a turn at running. Moreover, the
Congress party that Singh will be heading is a minority
one that is heavily dependent for survival on support
from the communist parties of the Left, which have
emerged with more seats in parliament than ever before.
Singh, a 71-year-old Sikh who will be India's
first non-Hindu prime minister, will find himself
constrained by a Common Minimum Program, an outline of
the economic and foreign policies of the new government,
which the Left has insisted on as a condition for its
crucial support. This is expected to seriously influence
economic decisions in favor of farmers and the working
classes. "We will bring out our Common Minimum Program
in a few days in which we will lay stress on the
agricultural sector, employment opportunities,
industrial sector and infrastructure," Singh said while
addressing his first formal press meet after being
invited by President A P J Abdul Kalam to form the
government on Thursday, adding that all-round
development would be the key priority for the new
government.
P Chidambaram, who succeeded Singh
as finance minister in 1996 in the Left Front-supported
United Front government - tipped for the same job again
in the new government - said that communist concerns for
farmers and the working classes were legitimate and
could be worked out as in the past.
Not that
either the Congress party or Singh need prompting on the
plight of small farmers who form the backbone of India's
agricultural economy, but have borne the brunt of the
reform process. The phenomenon of Indian farmers
committing suicide in droves has coincided with the
reforms process. It is estimated that during the five
years of BJP rule, at least 8,000 of them hanged
themselves or consumed the deadly agricultural
pesticides bought on loans that they were unable to
repay.
Already, the Congress administration in
Andhra Pradesh state is to introduce a relief package
for families of farmers who committed suicide because of
debt. The package of 150,000 rupees (US$3,300) for each
affected family was announced by chief minister Y S
Rajashekhar Reddy. Reddy said that nearly 3,000 farmers
in the southern state had committed suicide over the
past six years.
Singh says that economic reforms
will continue, but with a "human face", particularly
given the traumatic years India has witnessed because of
a sudden shift from long years of protectionism and
policies favoring self-reliance. Singh, who was born in
1932 in a rural village (Gah in what is now Pakistan),
needs no lessons on the importance to the economy of
taking the interests of farmers seriously. The man
acknowledged as the "father of Indian reforms"
criticized the last budget presented by the
business-friendly BJP as "a bunch of tokenisms that
refuse to address real problems like the eradication of
poverty and agricultural development".
On the
other hand, Singh has not hesitated to oppose a policy
of providing free power to farmers, announced last week
by the new Congress party provincial government in the
southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The announcement was
made after the defeat of the aggressively pro-reform
Telugu Desam Party, a regional ally of the BJP.
In his own words, Singh said what he really
wanted to do was to "release the innovative,
entrepreneurial spirit which always existed in India
through a credible structural adjustment program". After
receiving the formal letter of invitation to form the
new government from Kalam Wednesday evening, Singh
pledged to build "new opportunities for the poor and
downtrodden to participate in the economic process".
"No power on earth can stop an idea whose time
has come. The emergence of India as a major global
economic power happens to be one such idea whose time
has come," he said.
Former Reserve Bank governor
Bimal Jalan said Singh may be assuming office at a time
when the country was facing "huge challenges" in
political, economic and social spheres, however Singh
was the right man to take charge of the challenges and
problems the country faced today. "His past record,
achievements, educational qualifications stand him in
very good stead in tackling the problems we have today,"
he told Indian media. "Dr Singh's records and
achievements are an open book. Brilliant economist,
brilliant finance minister, brilliant [Reserve] bank
governor, well-known internationally."
Singh,
meanwhile, said that there was no question of
dismantling the programs set in motion by the outgoing
BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government, but it
was necessary that both the private and the public
sectors be equally strong. For example, there is no need
to privatize nationalized banks, said Singh, adding that
both the public and private enterprises should be on an
equal footing and it should be ensured that the workers
do not suffer as a result of any policy moves by the
government. Singh said that when he had presented his
budget 13 years ago as the finance minister in the P V
Narasimha Rao government, he had said that India could
emerge as a global power and had worked towards that. He
reiterated that the new government would work
"steadfastly" to carry forward the programs initiated at
that time.
India Inc gives the thumbs
up India Inc is welcoming the election of Singh
as prime minister, with business leaders expressing
confidence that he would further the reform process,
even as it praised of Gandhi for giving up the top post.
"Singh, the architect of economic reforms, would
be able to carry forward the process and drive the
country on higher growth trajectory," said N Srinivasan,
director general of the Confederation of Indian
Industry. Appreciating the decision taken by Gandhi, he
said, "The stature of Sonia Gandhi has gone up
tremendously by not taking the prime ministership and
recommending the name of Singh, known for balance,
knowledge of economy, humility, simplicity, sensitivity
and ability to listen to people."
Echoing his
sentiments, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry
of India president M K Sanghi congratulated Gandhi for
taking the decision as "per her conscience" and extended
the total support of trade and industry to the new
government for carrying the country forward. He said the
chamber was hopeful that the architect of country's
liberalization policies, Singh, would give further
impetus to reforms particularly in the fields of
agriculture, the financial sector , labor and education.
Talking about Singh's clean image, Electrolux
CEO Rajeev Karwal said being the architect of
liberalization, Singh would prove to be an architect of
a new value system in the country. "I am sure Singh will
provide India a very balanced economic leadership," he
said.
India's markets have been on a
roller-coaster ride since the Congress party won, with
stocks plummeting 11 percent on "Black Monday", as the
Mumbai exchange experienced its biggest drop in its
129-year history. Investors were concerned that any new
government would only be able to rule with support from
pro-labor, anti-privatization communists, which may
block or slow key reforms. But investor jitters have
subsided, with stocks rising following news that Singh
will take the premiership, and the belief he can balance
the demands of the leftists and businesspeople. "Our
government recognizes the importance of a healthy
capital market and there is no reason for anybody to
panic," Singh told reporters late Wednesday. On Thursday
markets held steady, suggesting the political
uncertainty of the past week is subsiding.
(Inter Press Service, with additional
information from Asia Pulse/PTI)
