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It was natural that when the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the 2004 general elections by defeating the BJP by a small margin and was invited to form the government, Sonia Gandhi depended on the person who had always been her choice. Prime Minister: Manmohan Singh,
The Congress leaders cried, fell at his feet, and beat their chests but to no avail. They insisted that Manmohan Singh be elected party leader – and they went to the Rashtrapati Bhavan together to stake the claim.
It must have been a tremendous moment for Manmohan Singh to be entrusted with the task of running a Congress-led government and holding the post which till then was considered the inheritance of a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Although they worked on the diarchy model, in which Manmohan Singh took the reins of governance while Sonia Gandhi retained political control, there was an unspoken understanding between them to prove to Manmohan Singh that the Congress would form a coalition government. It can run it as effectively and efficiently as Vajpayee – and the BJP – ran the former.
The main thing was to ensure stability, keep the coalition together and complete the full term. When the UPA was elected for a second term after a fierce clash with the Left, which withdrew support over the US-India civil nuclear deal, the imperative to retain the government and run it to its full term despite the odds became even greater. Became strong.
This was a project in which Sonia Gandhi had full investment. But Manmohan Singh was also like this, although there were differences between them on the roadmap. Manmohan Singh was keen to induct Rahul Gandhi as a minister in his government so that he could gather administrative experience and become familiar with the policy making process.
Before coming into government, Rahul Gandhi wanted to prove himself politically. In other words, he wanted an election victory to establish his credentials as a respected political figure.
Although Manmohan Singh faced ridicule, criticism and sometimes insults, he never wavered in his loyalty and commitment to the responsibility thrust upon him by the trusted Sonia Gandhi.
(Arati R Jerath is a Delhi-based senior journalist. She tweets @AratiJ. This is an opinion and the views expressed above are those of the author. The Quint Neither endorses nor is responsible for it.)
