The Odd Couple

Like the two-headed mule at a country fair, the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi arrangement has provoked endless curiosity and speculation. A ye...

Like the two-headed mule at a country fair, the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi arrangement has provoked endless curiosity and speculation. A year after this bifurcation of authority between party president and prime minister came into being, curiosity about it remains, but speculation over whether it is a viable arrangement has waned considerably. This is largely because both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh have stuck to the script. Sonia Gandhi may privately be considered the “super prime-minister” within Congress circles but she herself has refrained from appearing to interfere in government decision-making. In fact, apart from the controversy over the Congress president allegedly gaining privileged information on the Budget, even the Opposition has been hard put to fault her on this count. Sonia Gandhi has also been conscious of not appearing to play favourites, and pitting the senior members in the Cabinet against the PM. As for Manmohan Singh, his apolitical image, integrity and instinctive distaste for influence peddling has ensured that prime ministerial power has not assumed overweening proportions. If a Narasimha Rao were in his shoes, for instance, he may well have used his prime ministerial office to take over the party.

Between Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, the latter arguably had the tougher job. For two reasons — one, he lacked the political endorsement that Sonia Gandhi had; two, his job came at her behest. But despite these constraints, the prime minister has displayed a capacity to assert his authority when the occasion demanded it — most notably, of course, after the Goa and Jharkhand fiascoes. By taking corrective action at that juncture he did some valuable course correction, not just for his government but his party. The experiences thrown up by the first year of this arrangement, then, have some valuable lessons for both. They indicate the importance of mutual trust and respect — which goes beyond the payment of fulsome compliments, each to the other. It is also in the interests of both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh that the authority of the prime minister’s chair remains uncontested. In the years ahead, the UPA government will be required to take decisive, even controversial, steps if it is to appear convincing and effective. This can happen if the prime minister is given the required autonomy and support.

Exactly a year ago, this newspaper acknowledged Sonia Gandhi’s decision not to assume the prime ministerial mantle as a “master stroke”. Her choice of Manmohan Singh as the prime minister was also widely acknowledged as a good one. But maintaining this delicate balance between party leadership and government continues to be a project fraught with tensions and complexities. A great deal depends on the good sense of the two protagonists.