But this post is about something else. Dr Singh became PM under most fortuituous of circumstances and still remains his boss's only choice till such time Rahul Gandhi decides to take the plunge. the man who signed his appointment letter as RBI Governor is sulking in MEA as the de facto No.2. He was No.2 to Indira Gandhi also At that moment of tragic assasination of Indira Gandhi, even as he rushed to Delhi, some people spread a canard that he aspired to get sworn in as PM. The other seniors in the party chose to anoint Rajiv as the next PM and it is alleged Pranab was unkindly and unceremoniously sidelined. He made a brief flitration with anti congress politics before eventually returning to the parent party.

This time around, I thought Pranab had fewer enemies in the party He was the party's chosen points man in matters of great importance including the co ordination with Left Parties and yes the nuclear deal about which our PM is so passionate. He was to be officiating as PM in the absense of PM. Poor Pranab was speaking to media stating that in the absense of PM, the cabinet committee of Polical affairs will take decisions which will be chaired by the senior most minister in this case himself. He never called himself as an officiating PM and yet the message was taken rather as a sign of asserting his authority. Pranab even tried his luck in sychopancy which fetched dividends for people like Dhawan, Arjun singh( although he is sidelined now) ML Fotedar etc. He said Rahul as PM is a bright idea. Unlike when Arjun Singh did some kiteflying only to be reprimanded by the High Command, Sonia and her loyalists chose to keep a studied silence on the suggestion of Pranab. Pranab thought by keeping Sonia in good humor he could ascend to PM Chair at the appropriate moment. 

For the record, Pranab had been a Congress man all through his political years and has served the dynasty well. Like Rao, he had no political following of his own for he could not dissuade Mamta from breaking away. But he had handled all his jobs with skill and aplomb. It is to his credit that the dalliance with Left parties survived 4 long years despite inherent incompatibilities. He deserved to be an officiating PM if not a chosen PM at the appropriate time. But the party thought otherwise. AK Antony was catapulted to do ceremonial functions of the PM sidelining Pranab while he has been again given charges of nuclear deal and the like. There can not be anything more treacherous than this. Why is that a strong party man remains constantly humiliated? Lack of inner party democracy. 

Rao when he got the lottery to be PM(Even though to me he remains the best ever PM we had)  spoke about inner party democracy in the Tirupati session of AICC. But when he saw his critics like Arjun singh, Antony winning handsomely he managed a coup of sorts stating that the CWC election had not brought justice to women and socially under priveleged. His chamchas Jitendra Prasada, RK Dhawan promptly resigned forcing others to resign and Rao had the satisfactionof nominating them all again to CWC to show he was the boss. 

Forget the lesser mortals. The immortal Mahatma Gandhi chose Pattabi Sitaramaiah to be AICC President. Netaji defeated him. Instead of accepting the verdict, Gandhiji acknowledged that Pattabi Sitaramaih's defeat is my defeat. That forced Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to resign and quit the party. 

the party never practised inner party democracy. It is not news that a man of Pranab's stature could be insulted time and again