I would like to reproduce the following words of my blog dated 5 July, 2008:
It is heartening to see our government hanging on to the US nuclear deal. It is not very common to see national governments finding a mission and leaving no stone unturned to achieve it. These are the qualities we usually identify with private sector. Isn't it an example of management by objectives?
Yes, Manmohan Singh's UPA government saw the deal through in a manner one usually associates with the fabled efficient functioning of private sector. I know N-deal is too intellectually hefty an issue to influence results of a General Election in a country like India. But N-deal certainly stands as a metaphor of efficiency, integrity and purposefulness of the UPA government which came to power in 2004. The mandate won today by the Congress led political formation brings the issue of 'performance' to the fore.
Sonia Gandhi did a brilliant job of putting together a team of extra-ordinary gentlemen tasked with executing the liberal socialist political programme laid down in NCMP. Dr Manmohan Singh's role was largely technocratic. May be he was not a heavy-weight political leader but he handled the implementation of the UPA agenda well and at times saw through the difficult decisions in the teeth of fierce opposition. And average Indian anyway hates politics. So we did not mind having a political lightweight but an intelligent, knowledgeable and honest economist as our PM. Also, Sonia Gandhi was never seen throwing her weight around. The Gandhi family, on the whole, has astutely supported the PM during the five year term. This may be the reason the UPA is being voted back to power despite several shortcomings of the previous UPA government. With much political experience gained during the first term of UPA government, we can look forward to seeing a more confident and resurgent Dr Manmohan Singh in the next five years! As someone who lies behind the victory of 2009, as someone who does not just understand economics but also the business of governance.
The Verdict of 2009 should be remembered as a victory of the leadership model Sonia Gandhi has experimented, as a personal victory of a good politician and human being who is not a rabble rouser but an honest and clear- headed leader. He is not and has never been a weak Prime Minister...!!
