Baru left successful carrier as Cheif Editor of Financial Express to join PMO as Media Adviser in UPA 1. As per this book, Mr Singh offered him the job with these words "Sitting here, I know I will be isolated from outside world. I want you to be my eyes and ears.Tell me what you think I should know, without fear or favor".
Mr Baru's account of what it was like to "manage" public opinion for Singh while giving us a riveting look at Indian politics as it happened behind the scenes. As his trusted aid for 4 years, Baru it seems, closely seen the PM often his troubled relations with his colleague Ministers, his cautious equation with Mrs Soniaji and how the PM handled big crises from managing Left parties and pushing nuclear deal.The reader is given a revealing picture of what it was like for Mr Singh to work in a government which had two centers of power.
After reading this book what I understood is that for some senior politicians it had become a fashion to cast aspersions on him whenever something related to corruption or favoritism occurred in any ministry and this used to disturb me very much. The book reveals that Manmohan Singh's general attitude towards corruption in public life seemed to be that he would himself maintain the highest standards of probity in public life but wouldn't impose it on others; in other words he was himself in corruptible and also ensured that no one in his immediate family ever did anything wrong, but he didn't feel answerable for misdeeds of his colleagues or subordinates as perhaps he felt that he was not the political authority appointed them to these ministerial positions and in fact he turned blind eye to such misdeeds. He must have expected that congress party leadership to deal with black sheep in his govt, just as he expected the allies to deal with their black sheep.While his conscience was always clean with respect to his own conduct, perhaps he believed every one had to deal with their own conscience.
I watched Manohan Singh being unfairly treated as an object of public ridicule during his second term as PM and it is natural for a political leader to either be admired or hated, but a politician should never become an object of ridicule. He didn't deserve this fate. However he remains not just a good man but as per Mr Baru, his final analysis, a good PM too. It is especially true in his first term in office. No congress leader including Sonia or Rahul can match his combination of personal integrity, administrative experience, international stature and political appeal across wide range of public opinion. These qualities were strikingly evident in UPA 1 but whereas in UPA 2 it has suffered an irreparable loss .
For analyzing all this I think we may have to read few more books on similar subject written during that period. I will now start reading another book in succession, "CRUSADER OR CONSPIRATOR" By Mr PC PARAKH. This may also throw some light on the Manmohan Singh Govt.
After reading this book what I understood is that for some senior politicians it had become a fashion to cast aspersions on him whenever something related to corruption or favoritism occurred in any ministry and this used to disturb me very much. The book reveals that Manmohan Singh's general attitude towards corruption in public life seemed to be that he would himself maintain the highest standards of probity in public life but wouldn't impose it on others; in other words he was himself in corruptible and also ensured that no one in his immediate family ever did anything wrong, but he didn't feel answerable for misdeeds of his colleagues or subordinates as perhaps he felt that he was not the political authority appointed them to these ministerial positions and in fact he turned blind eye to such misdeeds. He must have expected that congress party leadership to deal with black sheep in his govt, just as he expected the allies to deal with their black sheep.While his conscience was always clean with respect to his own conduct, perhaps he believed every one had to deal with their own conscience.
I watched Manohan Singh being unfairly treated as an object of public ridicule during his second term as PM and it is natural for a political leader to either be admired or hated, but a politician should never become an object of ridicule. He didn't deserve this fate. However he remains not just a good man but as per Mr Baru, his final analysis, a good PM too. It is especially true in his first term in office. No congress leader including Sonia or Rahul can match his combination of personal integrity, administrative experience, international stature and political appeal across wide range of public opinion. These qualities were strikingly evident in UPA 1 but whereas in UPA 2 it has suffered an irreparable loss .
For analyzing all this I think we may have to read few more books on similar subject written during that period. I will now start reading another book in succession, "CRUSADER OR CONSPIRATOR" By Mr PC PARAKH. This may also throw some light on the Manmohan Singh Govt.
