The UPA is clearly hurtling from one embarrassment to another in recent months and the teflon coating that distinguished the Prime Minister from others is fast wearing off. It is not Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s personal integrity that is under a cloud but his failure to check corruption in his team is taking its toll.
The image that is emerging is that of an increasingly helpless prime minister who is not in full command. Be it the 2G scam in which Dr Singh was pulled up by the Supreme Court for sitting over Janata Party leader Subramaniam Swamy’s complaint against then Telecom Minister A. Raja’s questionable decisions which defrauded the country’s exchequer by a whopping amount, or the Commonwealth Games scam where too the organizing committee of CWG was given a long rope as corruption allegations piled up or the case of the selection of the controversial P.J. Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner by a committee of which the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha were members, the UPA government is faced with acute loss of face.
Attorney General Vahanavati’s shocking claim during a Supreme Court hearing on Thursday that the committee that finalized Thomas’ appointment was not aware that he had been chargesheeted for corruption in the palmolein import case smacks of appalling lack of homework of the governmental machinery. With Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj who had opposed the appointment in the committee meeting now declaring that she will file an affidavit shortly to show why she had opposed the selection and contending that she had at that time brought the chargesheet against Mr Thomas to the attention of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, there’s fresh embarrassment for the government.
Dr Manmohan Singh must realize that the tremendous goodwill that he has enjoyed over the years is beginning to erode and he needs to re-establish his credentials through a pro-active approach. The country is looking for strong, decisive action and effective governance from a prime minister whose erudition, sobriety and personal integrity are of the highest order.
The image that is emerging is that of an increasingly helpless prime minister who is not in full command. Be it the 2G scam in which Dr Singh was pulled up by the Supreme Court for sitting over Janata Party leader Subramaniam Swamy’s complaint against then Telecom Minister A. Raja’s questionable decisions which defrauded the country’s exchequer by a whopping amount, or the Commonwealth Games scam where too the organizing committee of CWG was given a long rope as corruption allegations piled up or the case of the selection of the controversial P.J. Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner by a committee of which the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha were members, the UPA government is faced with acute loss of face.
Attorney General Vahanavati’s shocking claim during a Supreme Court hearing on Thursday that the committee that finalized Thomas’ appointment was not aware that he had been chargesheeted for corruption in the palmolein import case smacks of appalling lack of homework of the governmental machinery. With Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj who had opposed the appointment in the committee meeting now declaring that she will file an affidavit shortly to show why she had opposed the selection and contending that she had at that time brought the chargesheet against Mr Thomas to the attention of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, there’s fresh embarrassment for the government.
Dr Manmohan Singh must realize that the tremendous goodwill that he has enjoyed over the years is beginning to erode and he needs to re-establish his credentials through a pro-active approach. The country is looking for strong, decisive action and effective governance from a prime minister whose erudition, sobriety and personal integrity are of the highest order.
Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India
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