Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, headed the first coalition government with the support of the Leftists from outside. His main thrust has been to appease the minorities, especially Muslims, for whom he constantly keeps on announcing special packages and programmes.
He had constituted a committee under Rajinder Sachar, a retired Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, to process the statistics pertaining to the backwardness of the Muslim community. A part of the report which appeared in the Indian Express pertaining to the Muslims in prisons across the country far in excess of a percentage of population was flashed in the Pakistani newspapers.
The political control virtually remains in the hands of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Singh plays a second fiddle. The July, 2005, Indo-US Nuclear Agreement and its approval by US legislators has enhanced his stature. Dr. Singh has not much to show as his achievements as Prime Minister. Dr. Manmohan Singh was re-elected Prime Minister of India for a second term when the UPA triumphed at the polls in 2009. The Congress is lucky because of the total absence of an effective opposition. The BJP lies in ruins, it is without a leader and a collegiums. The BJP fared very badly in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and other states where elections took place in late 2009.
Image Source:upload.wikimedia.org
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The UPA has scored a major success in stability; economic progress and in foreign relations. India weathered the global economic crisis rather well. Dr. Man Mohan Singh attended the G-20 Summit in London, G-8 Summit in Italy, NAM Summit in Egypt, SCO & BRIC Summits in Russia. The country has to tackle the growing menace of terrorism from within and without which may result in destabilization and even disintegration. Six years of his premiership have been virtually lackluster; he has no control over his colleagues who flaunt, defy and refuse to be reined in. The Nandigram violence in West Bengal showed the total ineptitude of his prime ministership. The CPM goons let loose a reign of terror against the local people who dared to oppose the Marxist cadre. He visited Russia in November, ’07 and signed a treaty for manufacture of a supersonic plane. He has not been able to handle properly and deftly relations with the powerful countries, USA and Russia. He visited Singapore in November, ’07 to participate in the ASEAN and East Asia summit. He met his counterparts from the ASEAN and East Asia to establish closer rapport.
He visited China in Jan 2008. The Congress has triumphed in Maharashtra a Rajasthan in 2009. If the BJP lost heavily in Jharkhand, though it had formed a coalition govt, with the JMM supremo Shibu Soren in Dec-2009. Congress has been helped tremendously due to the BJP’s slumber & infighting.