PM's Q&A with press reveals little
The Prime Minister got into a rare media huddle this week when he held a live, televised press conference with leading news editors this week. Mr. Singh provided the nation with a little honesty. But the truth is a bitter pill to swallow and the PM handed it to us in bucket-loads.
In regard to scams in general and the 2G Spectrum scam in particular, Mr. Singh's only answer was that coalition politics had forced some compromises (which we have to assume he made to the detriment of the nation). He also declared that A. Raja was a DMK choice and that he was assured earlier that there was nothing fishy in the spectrum auction, hence he was innocent of wrongdoing.
The PM also announced that seven out of ten decisions his government made were right and such a success ratio would have satisfied any shareholder in any corporation. He also said, with a small smile, that he was not as guilty as he was made out to be. Perhaps, but then again, we are also not shareholders in any corporation
On the plus side of the ledger, the PM acknowledged that there were lapses in judgment and governance by the UPA and promised punishment for wrong doers.
Hard to believe as it may be, basically we were told that he was not in control of his government, was trying his best to fix mistakes made due to lapses in judgment and we should not hold him personally responsible because most of the times he was personally unaware of what his own cabinet members were up to.
'Compromises made, but not quitting halfway' | Manmohan Singh defends his actions as PM
Image: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gestures during a conference of chief ministers of Indian states on internal security, in New Delhi, India.
Text: Vinayak Hegde
Images: AP
For the week of February 11 to 18
The Prime Minister got into a rare media huddle this week when he held a live, televised press conference with leading news editors this week. Mr. Singh provided the nation with a little honesty. But the truth is a bitter pill to swallow and the PM handed it to us in bucket-loads.
In regard to scams in general and the 2G Spectrum scam in particular, Mr. Singh's only answer was that coalition politics had forced some compromises (which we have to assume he made to the detriment of the nation). He also declared that A. Raja was a DMK choice and that he was assured earlier that there was nothing fishy in the spectrum auction, hence he was innocent of wrongdoing.
The PM also announced that seven out of ten decisions his government made were right and such a success ratio would have satisfied any shareholder in any corporation. He also said, with a small smile, that he was not as guilty as he was made out to be. Perhaps, but then again, we are also not shareholders in any corporation
On the plus side of the ledger, the PM acknowledged that there were lapses in judgment and governance by the UPA and promised punishment for wrong doers.
Hard to believe as it may be, basically we were told that he was not in control of his government, was trying his best to fix mistakes made due to lapses in judgment and we should not hold him personally responsible because most of the times he was personally unaware of what his own cabinet members were up to.
'Compromises made, but not quitting halfway' | Manmohan Singh defends his actions as PM
Image: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gestures during a conference of chief ministers of Indian states on internal security, in New Delhi, India.
Text: Vinayak Hegde
Images: AP
For the week of February 11 to 18
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