HIDE-AND-SEEK PM

Ever heard of a Press Conference without the Press? The one that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held recently had none of the respectable figures that make the Press what it is. Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, Arnab Goswami, Barkha Dutt, Rahul Kanwal, the television superstars, were not invited. Nor were the editors of the largest-circulated English newspapers. India fortunately – perhaps unfortunately for the PM – has a vibrant media that have been bring to light bungling after bungling of governments.

Jawaharlal Nehru used to hold a Press Conference every month in contrast to the three in the seven years of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Nehru would mesmerize the media and gave the newsmen a feeling that together with the PM, they are running the country. He gave the same feeling to the villagers whom he was addressing that they are participating in the governance of the country. He used to flatter them by asking, `Who is this Bharat Mata?’ and would reply, pointing to each one of them, `You are the Bharat Mata. When you are starving, Bharat Mata is starving. When you are well fed, Bharat Mata is well fed.’

Nehru was a great political artist and a theatric performer. When he wanted to get rid of some deadwood or ideological enemies in the Cabinet, he introduced the Kamaraj Plan, of which the supposed author K Kamaraj Nadar himself knew nothing about! The plan axed Morarjee Desai, the serious contender to the throne should Nehru die. V K Krishna Menon, another contender, too, out of the Cabinet, the decks were cleared for Lal Bahadur Shastri, who had a talent for bringing warring factions to settlement.

When Nehru found that the Praja Socialist Party was winng bye-election after bye-election in the late 50s, he adopted Socialism as the Congress ideology, taking the wind out of the sail of PSP. And he asked all the PSP leaders to join the Congress since there was no ideological difference between the parties. When any of the chief ministers became too powerful, he brought them to the Centre so that they will be under his nose.

A prime minister has to deal with the media and the Opposition, which is in good measure a test of his leadership qualities. The appointment of P J Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner destroyed the credibility of the Manmohan Singh government. The bizarre handling of Anna Hazare-Baba Ramdev incidents has not enhanced the credibility of the PM either. And come the Press Conference without the Press, so to speak. There is only one rational explanation for it. When Manmohan Singh was sworn in a second time, he could never have imagined the sort of PM he would become in two years. Afraid of seeing his own image in the mirror that the media is, he decided to shun it!