On a personal note, I had a secret wish and desire that Congress should come to power. Not because I have Congressi political lineage, but because of Dr. Manmohan Singh. I don’t want to waste my time expressing my disgust with all political parties and so called political leadership. It’s a waste of time. Now that secret wish has been fulfilled, I think I can say few words…

The alternative to Dr. Singh was Mr. Advani. My viewpoint is, Mr. Adavni does not have any stature to come even close to Dr. Singh. Mr. Advani has been in Indian polity for 40+ years. What is his report card?

• All Mr. Advani has to show is decisive politics to fulfill narrow agendas. Whole country knows his personal aspirations to become prime minister.
• When given a chance as home minister, his five year at helm is characterized by one Kandhar incident. At my level, I am not qualified to pass to comment on it. It is much bigger issue for me to critic. But the fact is he does have anything else of show for those five years, and hence the tirade continues against him.
  
• Here you keep bashing the neighbor, but when in their house, you praise them. Where was your strong skills, political astuteness, diplomatic stance and/or composure.
  
• If only Mr. Advani could show something else, it would have blunted Kandhar incident. Alas! It was not to be. The very issues that he talks about, he was not able to act or even initiate those every issues when in power.
  
• In addition, I have always heard Mr. Advani talk about rights to individual in the constitution. Mr. Advani, what about responsibility of the individual? May be you forgot to read those pages.

Post independence Nehru was able to provide a vision and direction to country. Nehru did not allow newly born independent state to run into chaos (as happens in other parts of the world). Similarly, Dr. Singh has left an indelible mark on the future history of Indian economy. I won’t be surprised if he is term as Father of India’s Modern Economy. Contrastingly, Dr. Manmohan always talks about individual responsibility (instead of individual rights)

In a short span of 15 years, Dr. Singh has given a whole new direction to the Indian economy. He not only sowed the seed for change, but also managed to demonstrate the change. He may not have been perfect in all of the issues, but:

• I cannot question his intentions;
• I cannot question his singular focus on doing good for the country;
• I cannot raise a finger of suspicion on him for any issue;
• I cannot doubt his objectives; and
• I surely cannot pass a judgment on him. I am not qualified to do so.

But, I do have a qualification to decide who to choose. I can differentiate who is strong and weak.

Mr. Advani rhetoric and speaking loudly does not make one stronger. It is your actions that make you stronger. That’s what India’s population thinks, including me!

Dr. Singh I salute you for rejecting the dual debate. It was not worth your time.

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This post was originally published on The Income Portfolio Blog on May 19, 2009.

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