Over 1 million pilgrims benefit from golf cart service at Grand Mosque during Ramadan    Visitors welcomed with Eid initiative at Thee Ain Heritage Village in Al-Baha    Tebuk emir reviews rain response in Tayma    Saudi Arabia considers rent cap as part of major real estate reforms    Messi's bodyguard banned from touchline at Inter Miami games    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Le Pen vows to appeal political ban, calls verdict a 'denial of democracy'    Death toll from Myanmar earthquake rises to 2,719 as rescue efforts continue    Russia, Ukraine trade blame over new energy strikes    Putin orders Russia's largest military call-up in over a decade    Albania hosts MWL chief for Eid sermon at largest mosque in the Balkans    Haramain High-Speed Railway transports over 1.2 million passengers during Ramadan    Saudi Transport Authority says passengers can ride for free if taxi meters are off    Ministry of Education forms 425 community partnerships with SR653 million impact    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Saudi creatives shine at Jeddah's Fawanees Nights with art, fashion, and storytelling    T1 CEO confirms Gumayusi's return for LCK Spring after lineup shakeup    100 Thieves claim Marvel Rivals Invitational NA crown as 2025 scene heats up    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Saudi Arabia hold Japan to goalless draw in Saitama to stay in World Cup hunt    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



The dilemma of departure
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 01 - 07 - 2012


M. J. AKBAR
What is happening to Pranab Mukherjee is cruel but not unusual. It happens to popes, editors and chief executives as much as to former finance ministers. The Vatican does not advertise the dilemma of past pontiffs, and sometimes it takes a few centuries before we get to know which Borgia had how many children, but the news is bad for editors and others who are less important. The moment you are yanked off the chair the bile of frustration, revenge and ambition begins to flow through your reputation. There is nothing called an empty chair in real life. And no man is a hero to either his valet or his successor.
What is unusual, and different, in Pranab Mukherjee's case is that his former boss is his successor, since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken charge of the finance ministry now that Mukherjee is headed toward a more spacious residence in Delhi.
After more than six decades of democracy, India's political, economic and media elite still don't seem to get how government works. Policy is the prerogative of Cabinet. The prime minister cannot claim that he does not share responsibility for policy, domestic or foreign. Pranab Mukherjee did not make finance policy like some czar of an autonomous state. In fact, it could not have become policy without the PM's approval.
The minister's task is implementation, and if Mukherjee fell short, it was often for reasons beyond his control. Take the much-hyped instance of foreign direct investment in retail. Let us set aside the point that we often behave as if India's future lies in the presence or absence of a few IKEA or Walmart stores. It was not Mukherjee who aborted this decision. He lobbied for it harder than anyone else. He was stopped by the fact that his government did not have a majority behind this decision. Nor was it a case of only allies like Mamata Banerjee raising dust; strong sections of the Congress party were opposed, and made their displeasure public. To push ahead nevertheless would have meant the fall of Dr. Singh's government, and that was not a risk which either Dr. Singh or Congress president Sonia Gandhi was ready to take. There is still insufficient political support for raising FDI limits to 49 percent in insurance and pension. Mukherjee himself argued that he could do little about the fiscal decisions taken by the Reserve Bank of India since its governor D. Subbarao refused to listen to him, and the governor was both appointed and backed by the prime minister.
What a minister is responsible for is implementation, and the argument can only be restricted to this. Dr. Singh has asked the human beings in his finance ministry to go forth and find an “animal spirit”. We will learn soon enough which animal is going to provide the inspiration, and to which degree this spirit will be distilled. But the prime minister already has another and more difficult problem. Whether the animal spirit rears up or not, Mukherjee's departure seems to have inspired rather large quantities of the animal instinct amongst Cabinet ministers. There is a clutch of claimants for Mukherjee's old job, and as various ministers cast an eye on the quality of the queue, they immediately join it. Vituperative conflicts are raging on the side, as big business pushes forward its preferred candidates.
These gentlemen [there are no ladies in line] are, in my view, making one big mistake. They are underestimating the prime minister. He has promised a Cabinet reshuffle “soon”, but “soon” has an elasticity that is equal to another four-letter word, “wait”. Any dramatic shuffle is not possible before the votes for president are cast on July 19. After that comes the election for Vice President, which takes us to August 10. By this time the monsoon session of Parliament will be under way. When this ends the climate will change, with the thermometer under the tongue of the crucial Gujarat elections. Come November, and all talk within government will turn to preparations for the next Budget, due in February. While politics is the antonym of certainty, it is a good bet that Prime Minister Singh will deliver his first budget after 1996.
The beauty of this exercise is that the prime minister merely has to let time and a calendar he cannot change shape the agenda. Never forget that Dr. Singh took a graduate course in politics from the Narasimha Rao University of Survival by Procrastination. Those who have seen Pranab Mukherjee after he filed his nomination for President of India remark that they have never seen him so relieved and happy. The relief is that he has left the Delhi culture of power behind. The happiness is easier to understand: nothing foreseeable can prevent him from becoming the 13th resident of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
— M. J. Akbar is an eminent Indian journalist. Write to him at: [email protected]


Clic here to read the story from its source.