MY COMMENTS ON BOOK ACCIDENTAL PM : MAKING AND UNMAKING OF DR MANMOHAN SINGH

[CS Vidyasagar]

Dear Brig Kuldip,

Sir,

              As desired by you, I have made my comments of the book ' Accidental PM: Making and Unmaking of Dr Manmohan Singh. 

              Thanks to Veteran RP Chaturvedi, I was able to read Mr Sanjaya Baru’s book ‘ An Accidental Prime Minister – Making and Unmaking of Dr Manmohan Singh’. The author was the former Media Advisor to hon’ble PM from 2004 to 2008. I felt the title of book should have been Rise and Fall of Dr MMS (on the lines of Rise and Fall of Roman Empire).

I found the 301 page book as very interesting and easy reading. The author gives credit to many of the questionable actions of Dr Man Mohan Singh (Dr MMS) such as his obsession to improve relations with Pakistan. The author supports him at every stage like a loyal soldier. The adverse comments about the book are from those Congress cronies who feel that author has exposed true colours of Mother – Son Duo who have usurped power with out any accountability in the last 10 years.

The author has put Dr MMS on very high pedestal. The way Dr MMS managed to navigate UPA-I through the minefields laid down by his party’s ministers in the Cabinet, ever demanding coalition partners and ever threatening Left front (which extended support to UPA – I from outside) is really commendable and reflects his leadership qualities. His political acumen is never recognized by Congresswalas as they think all political wisdom is restricted to the first family.

If Mr Narendra Modi is given credit for his Gujarat development, it is because there is no opposition to his leadership either from his own BJP or from outside. On the other hand, Dr MMS has encountered more opposition from his own Congress party who at every stage were trying to see he fails. There were three to four who were eager to occupy that chair as Pappu was still in Kindergarten and not ready to occupy the throne.

 The author makes it very clear to readers that none of the ministers ever felt obliged or grateful to Dr MMS for getting ministerial berths but openly showed their loyalty to Smt Sonia Gandhi. The news reports which appeared at regular intervals, to my mind, planted by these very same senior ministers indicated to discerning readers that all is not well in the Cabinet. The respect and authority a PM should command from his ministerial colleagues was totally absent. This is to tell the Nation that real leader is Smt Sonia Gandhi and Dr MMS is a nominated PM with all powers in the hands of the madam.

 All most all senior cabinet ministers never extended any support or guidance or help to Dr MMS. Yet he steered the ship of UPA – I from troubled waters is a testimony of character of this man who rose from humble origins.

I have been an ardent critic of Dr MMS for the last 10 years but after careful reading of the book, I can now understand under what constraints and difficulties good sardar performed his limited role as PM so well. All sterling qualities of Dr MMS come out very clear in this book and it goes to the credit of Mr Sanjaya Baru, the author who did an excellent work. I doubt if any Congresswala can give credit to Dr MMS the way the author has done.

Whether history will be kind to Dr MMS or not is not known, but I am sure if readers go through this excellent book with an open mind, they will definitely rate him as one of the best PMs Congress party produced. 

The author throws light on behind the scene actions of all political parties to corner benefits – political & monetary – when they are in a coalition set up as quid pro quo for providing support to form the Government and protecting national interests never appear to be in their radar.

               The author, though a media advisor to PM is not privy as to how policies are formulated and decisions are taken at the highest level. But he does tell how the personalities of various actors in the drama with their king size egos and how they shape the destiny of the Nation.

               The author tells us how the bureaucrats guard their turf so well and so ferociously like lionesses. At one stage Dr MMS advises Mr Sanjaya Baru “Never yield space”. IFS do not want anyone other than their own retired IFS officer as National Security Advisor. Should it not be the turf of Armed Forces? This is how you spread your cadre’s influence in decision making. In Govt of India, once a precedent is set, it is almost impossible even for PM to effect any changes. One can see how bureaucrats especially from IAS enjoy power with no accountability and pretending to be not responsible for their failures.

               The author reveals how persons are nominated to very important posts in the Government based on their connections, loyalties and camp following. Experience, character, maturity and wisdom are not the prerequisites to hold important appointments which affect governance.

               The author confirms general belief how the Italian bahu and her son ruled India for 10 years taking all credit for any success if at all there are any and forcing Dr Man Mohan Singh to take all the blame for the failures. The fact that UPA – II tumbled from one scam to another is a common knowledge.

               The power exercised by Smt Sonia Gandhi without any responsibility and accountability is not astounding to me as her actions right from May 2004 are  reported by various news papers and TV channels is a solid proof.

               The lady keeps advising her son “Beta, Power is poison” but she kept enjoying pleasures of power for 10 long years. She of course will not take any responsibility for the sorry state of affairs of this country. She was received in foreign countries as if she is the PM of India. Her foreign travels are in chartered aircraft of M/S Reliance Industries most of the times. Forbes and other acclaimed foreign journals named her as the most influential person in the world.

               The book is written in very simple style devoid of journalistic complexities.

               The author reveals one secret which is not known to most of us. All major policy decisions are taken or formulated over breakfast or lunch or dinner meetings. If you aspire to occupy any of such important positions in Govt of India, ensure your wife even at this age learns few more latest recipes or appoint good cooks as your OSDs(Officer on Special Duty) at public cost.

It is rather difficult to keep a track of events as the author keeps moving from 2004 and jumps to events in 2009, goes back to 2005 and then moves to 2007 and comes back to 2004. It would have made very interesting reading if the same book is rewritten in chronological order to help reader to know what was happening at which time. Since the author tried to make chapters based on major events, this zigzagging in time became inevitable.

               The author does not reveal much of secrets which everyone eagerly expected from him who was supposed to be
Ears and Eyes of the PM. Most who read daily news papers believed that Dr MMS was just a puppet. Mr LK Advani called Dr MMS as Nikkamma.

               If we, the common people, knew this simple truth that real power was with the madam when the UPA completed first year in power, how is that Dr MMS or even the author did not know or pretended not to know?

               At every stage the author keeps praising Dr MMS for many of his qualities. I do not know why Dr Upender, his daughter says the author has backstabbed her father. I have not come across even one sentence or paragraph in his 301 page very illuminating & interesting book where the author criticizes Dr MMS. Even if there is a failure, the author apportions the blame on to others and never to Dr MMS. I do not think at any stage, the author tried to belittle the image of Dr MMS. Always respectful, reverential and grateful to Dr MMS, the author tries to give more credit to Dr MMS than what he actually deserves. I have no doubt one day Dr MMS will certainly thank Mr Sanjaya Baru for speaking truth and putting it in public domain of the signal contribution he made to the Nation which Congresswalas would have denied to him like they denied to Mr P.V Narasimha Rao.

               But you can guess this criticism leveled against the author is again deliberate, as per the written script of the First family of Congress and not spontaneous. Can Dr Upender, Professor of History in Delhi University quote page number where the author has back stabbed her father? Can she quote one instance where the author has misused his privileged position and easy access to high office for commercial gain? Can she show author betraying trust of Dr MMS anywhere in these four years? Firstly has she read the book?

        This charade of her father being backstabbed is to assure the first family that Dr MMS has no role in writing of this book. The Dirty Tricks Department of Congress party must have already filled the ears of Sonia Gandhi against Dr MMS.

               The other reason, I guess, why Dr Upender, daughter of Dr MMS, was livid about the author is the pressure the dirty tricks department of Congress party must have brought to bear on this poor lady. If Dr MMS or his family member disassociates from the author, they can show to the first family of Congress how loyal the good sardar had been to them.

But Congress party must be happy to blame their poll debacle on Mr Sanjay Baru and BJP for spreading lies about the first family.

The pseudo intellectuals of Congress Party like Chiddu, Jairam Ramesh, Mani Shankar Aiyer will get into act and grandiosely pronounce that all major decisions were taken by the Cabinet as per the constitutional provisions and Sonia Gandhi had at no stage told the Government to do her bidding. None of incidents mentioned in the book ever happened but result of own fertile imagination of the author.    

               The author makes reader wiser by making him aware how policies are made at Govt of India level, how ministers function, how personal interests supersede Nation’s interests, how to survive in this political jungle, how to cultivate friends when you need them and how to throw them out after they have outlasted their utility, how ideologies, principles, convictions and such noble concepts are mere hollow words good only for TV interviews/debates. One has to devise his own ways to get even welfare programmes implemented as they adversely affect the beneficiaries of status quo. Will anyone dare to change the existing PDS(Public Distribution System) to plug leakages as they (constables to DGP, Collector to CM, lowly employee of civil supplies dept to Minister Civil Supplies) get  hefty commission regularly? To this extent the author has done commendable service to the Nation.

               Many observers noted that so called welfare programmes launched in Andhra Pradesh(every programme is named after Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi) from 2004 to 2014 were to financially benefit congress foot soldiers who helped the party to come to power in 2004. Can this Congress Govt be able to put names of beneficiaries of any such programme in the Government web site for the public to monitor whether these are genuine beneficiaries or ghost ones?

               After reading the book, my admiration of Dr MMS has gone sky high and my assessment of him has changed drastically. He managed the Nation during turbulent times. I sincerely hope Dr MMS is remembered as the last PM of Congress Coalition Govt as  INC does not deserve even a single chance in the future to come back to power.

               I recommend all faujis to read this gripping e-book to know how politicians and bureaucrats enjoy power and pelf leaving National security in the hands of Armed Forces.

               If you find the author has been a bit critical of Dr MMS at all, it is only out of pain, anguish and disappointment a loyal subordinate feels for his upright boss. Dr MMS deserved much higher perch than what the Congress party gave him. The author deserves kudos for his honesty, truthfulness and sincerity in bringing out facts as they appeared to him. But Congress cronies never appreciated truth and so myopic that they can not see beyond the First family of Congress party.

               I have noted the observations of the author and given my comments in the table below. The page number of the book is mentioned if anyone is interested to see the connection. The ones I felt is more important are given priority. Hence the page numbers do not follow any particular sequence. You should disagree with my comments so that we get a better picture as many things which are not known to me can come out. 

Ser no	Page No	Author’s Comments and Page Number	My Comment
1	285	‘His apparent commitment to ensuring Rahul’s succession, perpetuating the Congress party’s control by one family, was even more misplaced. That was Bheeshma’s failure too: he should have put his foot down on the Kaurava succession. Moreover, promising loyalty to hereditary succession is a monarchical attribute, not a democratic one. That was Dr Singh’s fatal error of judgment’         Perhaps Dr Singh was nervous about projecting himself because he thought that was the undoing of P.V. Narasimha Rao, the prime minister who, in 1991, brought Dr Singh into politics by making him his fi nance minister. Rao, whom Dr Singh described, in a heartfelt tribute at the time of his death in 2004, as his ‘mentor’ and the man from whom he had learnt whatever he knew about politics, came to be viewed with hostility by the Gandhi family and those close to it, and has been relegated to an insignificant place in the party’s official memory       Despite Dr Singh’s discouragement, I did publicize his work and project his personality. Indeed, I saw it as an integral part of my job. In the process, I often burnt my fingers, as the reader will learn, earning the ire of Gandhi family loyalists who treated any effort to promote the prime minister as an affront to the family. (pp xiv).	Mr Sanjaya Baru, the author of this illuminating book on Dr MMS appears to me as an ardent admirer and wanted him to charter his own course purely out of his love and concern for his boss.        Howsoever, Dr MMS might have tried, it is not possible for leader of any stature in Congress party to ignore the first family i.e. Nehru dynasty.        The author desired true democracy to flourish in Congress party. But he forgets a simple fact that since late 1950s Pandit Nehru converted this Grand Old Party as his personal property.      I call this as a monumental error of judgment on the part of Mr Sanjaya Baru, otherwise an erudite author to make such a statement that too in Epilogue portion of the book after writing so much in the previous chapters about the dynasty.        Anyone who has been monitoring the progress of Nehru – Gandhi (not related to Mahatma Gandhi) dynasty knows that Pandit Nehru converted Indian National Congress Party as a private limited company(plc) after the death of Sardar Vallabhai Patel in Dec 1950 and after disappearance from scene many great nationalists like Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, JB Kripalani, Rajaji and Govind Ballabh Pant  et al.       The promoter(s) of this company are only Nehruji and his heirs. The so called party workers whether they are Cabinet ministers in Union Govt or Chief Ministers in the States or Ministers or any one holding any nominated posts are simply employees of the plc.         The primary duty of employees is to obey the commands of promoters of the company i.e. Nehru till May 1964, Indira Gandhi till Aug 1984, Rajiv Gandhi till May 1991 and their successors thereafter.       The importance of jobs employees in plc get is directly proportionately to the amount of loyalty displayed to the promoters of plc. Oxford educated Sri Salman Khurshid’s utterances “I will shed blood for Smt Sonia Gandhi” &  “She is the mother to all Indians” would make Zakir Hussain, his grand father & former President of India, and his illustrious father Khurshed Alam Khan, former Minister for External Affairs make somersaults in their graves but such things do not matter.          No qualifications are required to hold any post in the plc. They are also required to remit lagan regularly to the promoters   when they are employed on profitable posts like Union Cabinet ministers and Chief Ministers. They are permitted to retain a portion of the loot after remitting lagan to the promoters and throw crumbs at the so called poorest of the poor to show how concerned they are of poor and what magnificent efforts they are taking to abolish poverty in India.          The plc does not need any board of directors. So the post of PM is reserved for the dynasty only. I am sure you know Mughal prince Mohd Jaluddin Akbar was too young to sit on the Mughal throne on the demise of his father Humayun. So Bairam Khan, the maternal uncle of Akbar guarded the throne till Akbar came of age to sit on the throne.        Does not History repeat itself? For Akbar read Pappu and for Bairam Khan read Dr MMS. Then everything becomes very clear to you.       Bairam Khan never pretended that he is the actual ruler though he was functioning as one. But Dr MMS pretended that he is the PM though he was not permitted to function. The lesson I learnt from this book is Economists do not study history.          Smt Sonia Gandhi, unfortunately because of her white skin, could not become PM as 128 crore Indians have brown skin. So Dr MMS is the only choice as other employees like Pranab Mukherjee, Chiddu, Arjun Singh, AK Antony et all are hawks eying the gaddi meant for Pappu.         Have you ever seen in the history of India a commoner sitting on the throne? So Smt Sonia Gandhi was only following what countless kings of various Indian princely states have done for three thousand years. You can not blame her at all for what she has been doing all these 10 years.         Any employee who showed even a bit of independence from the promoters have been shown the door like the way MNCs in India issue pink slips to their recalcitrant employees on every Friday (Saturday and Sundays are holidays). Mr Hitendra Desai of Gujarat, Mr Virendra Patil & Mr Devraj Urs of Karnataka, Mr Karunakaran of Kerala (to cite a few) and countless CMs were thrown out from plc when they tried to chart out their own path.        The author tells that Mr PV Narasimha Rao(I rate him the best PM the Congress party has every produced in their 60 year rule) who tried to wriggle out of the clutches of the promoters of plc was shown the door in the most humiliating way not only when he was alive but after his death too. He was not given a ticket to contest Lok Sabha elections in 1999 when Smt Sonia Gandhi became party chief. When he died, his body was not allowed to be kept in New Delhi and was immediately flown to Hyderabad. There too, the body was not allowed inside Gandhi Bhavan, the INC party Office in Hyderabad and was taken to cremation ground.       All Government schemes are named after promoters only viz Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Indira Gandhi International Air Port, New Delhi, IGNOU. The list is endless.      After all, India is private property of Nehru family inherited from Edwina Mountbatten.        To make readers believe that Dr MMS should have charted an independent course is absolutely astounding and outlandish coming from Mr Sanjaya Baru, the eminent author of this no holds barred book, a person who had thousands of contacts in the various power centres and who is privy to what happens and why it happens in the corridors of power.         After allowing an outsider like Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao a free hand, see what happened to the dynasty in 1991 – 96. Do you not know what happened to Mr Steve jobs who founded Apple and later thrown out from the company by board of directors?      Never allow an employee to nurse ambition to become promoter of plc!!       If you understand this simple precept, then you will enjoy reading the book and would know why things happened the way they happened in UPA – II.         The author proves my above hypothesis of Congress party being a private limited company which belongs solely to the promoters and others being merely employees as correct by his statement at fag end of the book at page no 272 which reads:       Dr Singh believed he had delivered on that score in the summer of 2009 and that is why he exuded the confidence he did, on that day. But then, he made the cardinal mistake of imagining the victory was his
Bia	94	While the EGoMs may have been created to either share power with senior colleagues like Pranab or pass the buck on tricky issues where he did not want to be seen taking the decision, the fact is that they were a self-inflicted wound on prime ministerial authority. I was puzzled by Dr Singh’s move because, as a long-time player in government, he understood only too well the importance of protecting turf.	Even a fauji like me knows that Dr MMS never took any decision in his entire Government service fearing inquiries after he demits the office in case the decision has gone wrong or caused some loss to the state. I cannot understand the author who is  reputed left leaning economist cum journalist puzzled at this attitude of Dr MMS to convene EGOMs(Empowered Group of Ministers) to avoid taking any responsibility for any fiasco which could take place in the future. EGOM is a good scapegoat.
3	109	While he would try from time to time to improve his delivery in public speaking and TV appearances, this never came naturally to him. Even a smile before TV cameras, a basic requirement for a politician, never came easily to him and I had to often get close to him, sometimes worrying the SPG guards, standing just a step away, to whisper in his ear, ‘Smile’.	I feel this is a perfect act to behave like a dumb by the clever doctor. His boss in UNCTAD Mr Raul Prebisch told him “Sometimes in life, it is wise to be foolish”.      The good Doctor knew if he were to show himself as an astute politician, madam would suspect him of nurturing ambitions to sit on the gaddi for ever like Pranab da, Arjun Singh, Sharad Pawar tried to do.        So pretend you are not a politician to give impromptu speeches without reading from a given script(Army officers are trained and give speeches without referring to any notes and that is why they become good leaders). So by giving a speech straight from heart like Presidents of US do, you are only sending danger signals to the boss of plc. Consequence is very easy to imagine: you will be shown the door.         Have you not seen the fate of Mr P.V Narasimha Rao in 2004 just before his death and after his death? Already, a crony of promoter, Mr Digvijay Singh has told many TV channels when asked about the good doctor “I do not know whether Dr MMS is an overrated Economist, but definitely he is an underrated politician”. Is this not good enough signal from madam that she is watching the simple doctor with a hawk’s eye. Remember the communist slogan “The Big Sister is Watching!!”
4	110	(a) What could Dr Singh do to show that he was the boss? Indeed, was he prepared to do anything at all? His shy and introverted personality was a barrier. His unwillingness to assert himself vis-à-vis senior Cabinet colleagues imposed limits on what a subordinate could do to project his image.   (b) Dr Singh’s own attitude to the situation he was placed in was puzzlingly ambiguous. On occasion he would get irritated by suggestions that he was not his own man, at other times he would opt for a low profi le and shy away from asserting his authority. Sometimes he would deliberately say or do things to establish his independence.	Mr Sanjaya Baru, the author may not know (should have known better than others as he saw Dr MMS as Finance Minister in 1991 - 96 during prime ministership of Mr P.V Narasimaha Rao), but we knew that this very shy and introverted persona of Dr MMS got him the job of PM. Ahmed Patel, Political Secretary to Madam has a file on every Congress leader – small or big – and he must have definitely briefed his boss as to who should be nominated as PM. Dr MMS fitted the bill perfectly.         These are the essential qualities the plc want in any of their employees. More subdued and lesser threat you pose to the promoter, you get a better job in plc.         Do you know Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao being aware how plc keeps tabs on its employees, never cultivated any following in his home state Andhra Pradesh. That was the reason why he always fought elections from Maharashtra (Nanded as he could speak Marathi fluently), Orissa (Berhampur which has large Telugus). The only time he fought from Nandyal after he became PM in 1991 due to support from Mr NT Rama Rao, Chief Minister (from rival Telugu Desam Party) not fielding any one against PNVR calling him Telugu Bidda (Son of Telugus).         In any case, you are not to perform the duties of PM but only sit on that gaddi and pretend that you are the PM as Madam is ever willing to shoulder such heavy responsibilities.         Have you ever seen a promoter allowing any of his employees to take major decision affecting the company which they built with so much care, hardwork and sacrifice?        If you watch the nomination of any Chief Minister in any Congress ruled state, the plc will also nominate a dissident simultaneously to keep a check on the CM so that the later does not swerve away from the path given by promoters of plc.      The question of crossing Lakshman Rekha never arose in Congress party as inputs on performance of CM was given by the dissidents to promoter at regular intervals. The incidents act like IB(Intelligence Bureau).        Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy, a perpetual dissident who knew the promoters so well,  when he became CM of AP did not leave even a Govt constructed latrine in Andhra Pradesh named after anyone other than Nehru – Gandhi dynasty. Dr YSR Reddy was very prompt in remitting lagan on monthly basis (like you do for bank loan by paying EMI) without being reminded by the promoter.       Since he was highly obedient, Dr YSR Reddy did not have any dissident nominated to keep a tab on him. Dr YSR Reddy was performed role of dissident perfectly in Andhra Pradesh from 1978 till 2004 and kept all the Chief Ministers including Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao on tight leash. So he knew the mind of promoter and how a dissident is expected to kowtow to the promoter.
5	110	Moreover, his decision to induct his own man, Montek, as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, was countered by Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi’s decision to create an NAC filled with critics not just of Montek but also the PM. This did nothingfor his image.	Here again the knowledgeable author makes a serious mistake. Even if someone to the liking of Madam was appointed as Dy Chairman of Planning Commission (like Dr Arjun Sengupta as author has hinted), still NAC would have been constituted to keep a check on the day to day activities of chowkidar. The choice of being chowkidar is yours so why regret after enjoying perks of the post for 10 long years?
6	126	Dr Singh’s ‘silences’ and his unwillingness to project himself became more manifest in UPA-2 and were more widely commented upon. His penchant for a ‘low profile’ was seen in UPA-1 as a defence mechanism, part shyness and part self-preservation, but in UPA-2 it came to be seen as escapism, as shirking responsibility and an unwillingness to take charge. The same trait of self-effacement was seen as a virtue in UPA-1 and a weakness in UPA-2.	Madam Smt Sonia Gandhi had no option but to allow some elbow room to Dr MMS in UPA – I so that her pet schemes like loan waiver to farmers costing exchequer Rs 74,000 crores in 2008-09 could be pushed through. This was also essential as Pappu still was in Nursery and was not fit to replace Dr MMS in UPA-I. Though most of the congresswalas know that Pappu has just graduated from Nursery to Standard V in 2014, they do not mind it.        Farm loan waiver was good politics but bad economics. So the economist PM had to be humoured. That is why when Dr MMS threatened to quit on the eve of Indo – US Nuclear deal in Jun 2008, Madam Smt Sonia Gandhi took pains to persuade the good sardar not to resign. Pappu is still in Nursery and whom does she trust to hand over reins of PM till Pappu graduates to Standard V or Matric?       Once UPA – II comes into being, then Dr MMS can be cut down to his original shape and size. In politics, everything depends upon timing. Many a time, the promoter has to eat a humble pie and project the CEO as more intelligent than him to tide over a serious problem. After the crisis is over, the CEO can be shown the door if he opens his mouth too wide and too often!! Why such simple conclusions could not be drawn by this erudite author is somewhat puzzling to me.
7	132	The next day, I took a printout of the PM’s speech and put up a note for his approval saying he might wish to instruct the principal secretary to follow up on this statement and take the necessary steps to have this new policy (declassifying Government papers after 50 years atleast) announced. I heard nothing about this afterwards. Years later, after I left the PMO, I asked Dr Singh why he never followed up on that announcement. His matter-of-fact reply was, ‘This should have been done by the BJP when they were in office. The Congress party is not yet ready to take this step.’ The implication of his remark was that any declassification of official papers based on a thirty-year rule would begin to throw more light on Nehru’s and Indira’s time in office.	Many knowledgeable people have said even Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru had doubtful intellectual abilities though he studied at Harrow and Cambridge. His acclaimed books Discovery of India and Glimpses of World History, they say, are nothing but CUT AND PASTE job.      No need to say anything about intellect of Madam Indira Gandhi as she did not pass even matriculation examination.        The Congress party minions especially the promoters are shit scared of the possibility of public knowing greatest mistakes the two worthies (Nehru and Indira) did during their stewardship of the country which requires next thousand generations to make penance. So every act of commission and omission of these worthies has to be shoved under carpet not to be seen by the Indian public. That is the reason why Henderson Brooks Report is not yet been de-classified.     The only way to ensure their memory is perpetuated is to keep naming every Government office, building, scheme, organization after members of Nehru – Gandhi dynasty.
8	138	The Vajpayee government had ended its term on a high note, with upwards of 8 per cent growth in the final year, fuelled by a massive expansion of investment in infrastructure, and bequeathed to its successor an economy in reasonably good shape. It was economic optimism that prompted the NDA finance minister Jaswant Singh’s famous ‘India Shining’ campaign, aimed at promoting India internationally as an investment destination. Growth rates were going up, inflation was low, a surplus in the capital account was being registered for the first time in years	The author has been criticized by the Congress cronies for bringing out this truth about NDA regime. How can a person who was employed by UPA – I praise opponents?       Have you ever heard a senior executive of a firm praising a competitor on the quarterly or half yearly or annual results?         The cronies of Congress party (like that horrible Sanjaya Jha, spokesperson of Congress party who looks like more of mafia than a politician), to curry favor of plc are questioning the timing of release of this book as it will hurt their chances very badly in Apr – May 2014 elections as truth about NDA comes out.     All the time Chiddu and Jairam Ramesh, crony of Madam have been telling lies that UPA showed better results in economy than six year rule of NDA. The facts given by the author who was former media advisor to PM exposed all lies being mouthed day in and day out by these pseudo intellectuals though studied abroad in prestigious universities.
9	139	What the PM was implicitly telling the nation was that the NCMP would not become a straitjacket but would be interpreted through the government’s policy statements. The NCMP had been hurriedly drafted by Sitaram Yechury and Jairam Ramesh to enable the Left to work with the Congress. It was not a carefully thought through manifesto. Dr Singh was, understandably, not fully satisfi ed with the NCMP. He thought the Congress had made too many concessions to the Left in its desperation to secure support. He was concerned that both the Left and many in the Congress would expect delivery on all promises, and that this might be a tough task for the government. The party seemed to have taken the easy way out, saying ‘yes’ to words in print and imagining that the government would not be constrained by them in action.	The Congress party under Smt Sonia Gandhi  informed H.E the President in 1999 that their coalition got majority and more were coming. She demanded she be permitted to form the Government. Thankfully, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav on the advice of CPM did not support this coalition and Smt Sonia Gandhi had to eat a humble pie.     Having learnt a lesson at a high price, Madam does not want to repeat that mistake in 2004 and was willing to do anything to get outside support of the Left.
10	143	The Congress party’s obsession with giving the entire credit for theMGNREGA to the Gandhi family reached a point where it may have actually embarrassed the family. The scope of NREGA (this was before it was named after Mahatma Gandhi and consequently became MGNREGA)	The cronies of Madam like Jairam Ramesh, Digvijay Singh, Salaman Khurshid, Anand Sharma, Renuka Chaudhary et all are so myopic that they can not see any Government scheme either by the Central Govt or any State Government ruled by Congress party being named after a person other than Nehru dynasty. For the first time all these minions must have genuinely felt that they went too far in naming even urinals after Nehru dynasty. They, with borrowed wisdom from some genuine nationalists agreed to name the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme after the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.         To the best of my knowledge this is the only major scheme of the Central Government that was named after a person who does not belong to the Nehru dynasty.
11	144	Later that evening, Shishir Gupta, a senior political journalist at the Indian Express, called me to find out if Dr Singh had accepted Rahul’s suggestion and whether NREGA would now be extended to the entire country. I reminded Shishir that the prime minister had already stated his commitment to doing so in his Independence Day speech the previous month, and that the PMO was in discussions on this very point with the ministries of rural development and finance.      Only the Indian Express made the additional remark in its dispatchthe next day that ‘Sources said that this issue had been on the PMOradar even before Rahul’s elevation to the party post. The Principal Secretary to the PM had already discussed the issue with officials from the Finance Ministry, Rural Development Ministry and Planning Commission almost two weeks ago.’      Raghuvansh Prasad had, in fact, been the original enthusiast infavour of extending the employment programme to the entire country and he was amused when he found himself upstaged by a Congress party now claiming this was Rahul’s idea. But he sportingly went along with the Congress party’s spin, confi ning himself to telling a few reporters from his home state, Bihar, that it was he who had been pushing the fi nance ministry and the Planning commission to extend the programme.	The Congresswalas are terribly angry with the author for revealing party secrets just before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections that every good thing came from Pappu (whose intellect is that of a Class V student). So credit goes to Pappu for the work done by Dr MMS. I wonder whether Pappu knows what is MNREGA is all about. Does he know how wages are received from Central Govt and how these are remitted to the beneficiaries of the scheme?         Has he ever visited one village where this scheme is working? This is one of the many schemes where congress foot soldiers got a chance to make tons of money. Even dead persons were shown to have worked under this scheme and were paid wages. The same person living in a bordering district was paid wages by two districts / two states for the same period.
12	154	There was a threefold increase in scholarships for Muslim students	The concept of Secularism came from the West. In simple terms, it is separation of Church from the Government. In India secularism means no discrimination on account of one’s faith, ethnicity, language or colour of skin. Giving Scholarships to Muslim children ignoring similarly placed children of other religions is a typical example of communalism.        But for Congress party whatever they do is Secularism and whatever BJP does is Communalism.         This is one more reason why congresswalas are unhappy with author as he is revealing too many secrets and showing Congress party as communal(which they have been right from the days of Independence)
		This despite the fact that he not only shared a good workingequation with Finance Minister Chidambaram in UPA-1, compared to the very formal relationship he had with Pranab Mukherjee in UPA-2, but also took much keener interest in budget-making. He would insist Chidambaram sit with him and fi nalize the fi nance minister’s annual budget speech. Pranab, on the other hand, would not even show him the draft of the speech till he had fi nished writing it. When the UPA-2 government became paralysed by a political storm in 2010–11 over explosive financial scandals, many of the inherent weaknesses of the economy, built up due to the creeping populism of UPA-1, surfaced and took their toll. By then Dr Singh had lost control over fiscal policy and much else. In March 2012 he was not even aware till the day before the budget was to be presented that his finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was going to introduce a new corporate tax policy, with retrospective effect, that would have disastrous consequences for investor sentiment.        She was certainly not prepared to name Pranab Mukherjee as prime minister or even as deputy prime minister(pp 272).	Pranab Da was denied prime ministership firstly by Mr Rajiv Gandhi immediately after assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1984. When asked as to who is to be appointed or selected as PM, Pranab Da told Mr Rajiv Gandhi that as per Congress party’s custom, it is the seniormost in the cabinet is selected as PM(indicating that Pranab da should be anointed as PM). Even the political savvy Pranab da did not know that he does not own India nor he is the promoter of plc. When Pranab da (posing threat to the throne),was ignored by Rajiv Gandhi,  the miffed Bengali babu left Congress party, formed his own party and found no one is interested in him, closed his shop and came back to Congress party after Mr Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in Sripermabadur, Tamilnadu in May 1991.      Pranab da though well qualified to be the PM was denied that august office two more times by Madam in 2004 and again in 2009.   Then why was Madam insisted that Pranab da to be inducted into council of ministers in 2004 knowing fully well that Dr MMS was Governor of Reserve Bank of India during 1982-84 when Pranab Da was Finance Minister?        My guess is as good as yours. There are two reasons for this as per my analysis.      First is to tell Pranab da the consequences of harbouring ambition to become PM when Sri Rajiv Gandhi was still alive and kicking. So to teach him a lesson, make Dr MMS, subordinate of Pranab da at one time as his boss in 2004. Congresswalas have tremendous capacity to take any insult as long as they are guaranteed perks and privileges.      Second reason is : Congress strategy to keep a counterweight to ensure Dr MMS does not cross Lakshman Rekha. Madam did not forget how Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao tried to cross Lakshman Rekha in 1991-96 by totally ignoring Nehru dynasty and charting his own course as PM.        Poor PVN Rao as PM did give a grant of Rs 100 crores to Smt Sonia Gandhi headed Indira Gandhi trust in his first year in office in 1991. What is Rs 100 Crores when Edwina Mountbatten bequeathed entire India to Nehruji on 14 Aug 1947 to be used as his personal property?       So by introducing corporate tax policy with retrospective effect (to force Vodafone to pay hefty tax on its purchase of Hutch Whampoa outside India – remember that beautiful pug which follows you wherever you go advertisement) - Pranab da dug the grave for UPA- II in his intelligent way.  Though hon’ble Supreme Court gave judgment against Govt of India on this case, UPA-II, Pranab da does not budge from his stated position. So foreign direct investment (FDI) due to such whimsical Govt policies was totally dried up. This led to higher un- employment, high inflation, lower economic growth, transfer of technology is the farewell gift Pranab da gave to UPA – II before he happily moved to Rashtrapati Bhavan.        What do you expect a shamed Bengali to do? Do you think he will keep quiet? No, Sir, he will wait for his time to come and give you a deadly blow from which you can never recover. There after what does he do ? Goes to become President of India so that no inquiry is ordered against him for next five years.               If you nurse any ambition in Congress party, do not ever forget a simple truth : you do not own India and it is personal property of Nehru dynasty. If you do not believe me, kindly read the will of Edwina Mountbatten (to be obtained under RTI Act) bequeathing India to Nehru at the time of her death. If you want to make tons of money in Congress party, if Pappu kicks you on your bottom, ask him “Sir, I hope you are not hurt!!”. Man that is known as loyalty!!     But my humble assessment is (may be wrong!) : had Dr MMS been a Jat sikh, he would have shown Pranab Da who is the boss (Singh is King!) after budget is presented in Parliament. He would have brought an amendment the very next day to the finance bill removing the Retrospective Tax provision, thereby restoring confidence of foreign investors. After all, Jat Sikh Dr MMS would have thundered in Parliament that this retrospective tax policy in his personal opinion and if you ask him for it, is utter nonsense, should be torn and thrown into waste paper basket like Pappu did for that famous ordinance. No offence meant to other castes of Sikhs (Guru Gobind Singh ruled out caste system in Sikhism).         Mr Sanjaya Baru tells us how simple things like shaking hands, handing over a cup of tea, smiling warmly when you see someone, making someone sit next to you on the stage etc enhances your chances of survival by purchasing loyalties of your potential adversary.
13	173	When Natwar had to resign after the Paul Volcker Committee’s report alleged that both the Congress party and he had benefitted monetarily through deals struck with Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Dr Singh was genuinely sorry to see him go.	Why did not Congress President resign when that party was also found guilty of making money? Why only Mr Natwar Singh?       The answer is simple: The promoter of the company does not disappear but only employees are kicked out. No one and not even Mr Natwar Singh asked “Why only me and why not Madam who also received payments?”       The reason is that when Mr Natwar Singh received huge payments in dollars from Iraq and kept that money in foreign bank, he failed to share the spoil with Madam. He did not take lessons from Dr YS Rajashekhar Reddy of Andhra Pradesh as to how to make money and how to send lagan (monthly contributions) to the madam.  By the way where is Mr Natwar Singh now days?
14	176	Leaving the London G-20 summit in April 2009, President Barack Obama went to Germany where a young school student asked him which politician he admired. Obama’s instant reply was that among existing world leaders he admired Dr Singh of India the most.	Dr Upender, daughter of Dr MMS must not blame Mr Sanjaya Baru, the author of this book, by accusing him that he backstabbed her father.        She does not know that this comment of Mr Barak Obama in 2009 led to her father’s downfall.       Dr MMS should have simply bribed Mr Barak Obama to say that the most important leader the world has today is Smt Sonia Gandhi (rose from  humble background like our NaMo. She was a waitress in restaurant in Cambridge university as believed by many who were studying at that time in UK. Many foreign students do such jobs in advanced countries to supplement their income to pay for college fees. No shame in admitting such things). Cambrige University confirmed that Mrs Sonia Gandhi never studied in that University when the good madam claimed in her election affidavit that she is a graduate from Cambridge university.        As is the practice with the Nehru dynasty, they will never tell their background including their names in passports, their educational qualifications, nationality etc citing personal privacy.       Whereas as NaMo has no qualms in telling us all that he served tea in railway platform in Vadnagar, his native place. Do you know what ails madam which makes her go to US very frequently for medical check ups? Who pays for her medical treatment and travel in chartered air craft? Personal privacy!!
15	179	To create a favourable environment for the meeting, India took the initiative to announce unilateral liberalization of the visa regime for Pakistani academics, businessmen and senior citizens	This unilateral visa policy helped many Pakis in garb of businessmen and academics to carry out   thorough recce of Taj Hotel, VT Railway Station and other places before they bombed Mumbai and killed 168 innocent people on 24 Nov 2008. They had enough ammunition to fight for next 10 days.        They were also helped by Sanju baba to store weapons in his Pali Hill bungalow and he kept some for his self protection because he expected to be attacked by Hindus on 25 Nov 2008 as his mother was a muslim.         Sri Sushil Kumar Shinde says “You should not arrest minority community personnel”. So the grateful Govt of Maharashtra, heeding advice of Union Home Minister has permitted Sanju baba (a half muslim) to spend balance one year six months of RI period by confining himself to his bungalow and not in Yerwada jail, Pune. This is classic case of secularism if you do not know the meaning of it.
16	186	During the Kargil war, R.K. Mishra and Aziz would meet secretly, exchanging messages between Musharraf and Vajpayee. Mishra also doubled up as Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Dhirubhai Ambani’s aide, seeking assurances from the Pakistanis that they would not bomb RIL’s Jamnagar plant.	You have got to give it to that Gujarati bania Dhiru Bhai Ambani to get anything and everything done from anyone. It was also rumoured that Dhiru bhai transferred almost a US $ 1 million into Musharraf’s swiss account as protection money to ensure his Jamnagar plant is not bombed by PAF. It is a great insult to the IAF fighter pilots. Tch, Tch, Tch!!        No wonder if IT department/DRI/IB raids any of Reliance offices anywhere in the country, the very next day Mukesh Ambani meets PM in 7 RCR, New Delhi over dinner.        After UPA – I came to power; Mukesh Ambani has reported to have said “Kya Kare. Congress party apna dukan ban gayi”. Who funded election expenses of Congress party in 2004 Lok Sabha elections?. You know it!!      To that extent Mr AK 49 is correct in saying that India is governed not by NDA or UPA but by Mukesh Ambani.
17	188	To add to this, Dr Singh had to also contend with a declining quality of defence services leadership, which has since become all too visible. For me, the first sign of this decline was evident in the manner in which army chief General J.J. Singh dealt with the Siachen issue. In closed-door briefings, the general would say that a deal with Pakistan was doable, but in public he would back Antony when the defence minister chose not to back the PM.	Though Gen(Retd) JJ Singh has contradicted this statement of the author, I tend to believe what the author said may be true. Many senior officers speak with forked tongues after knowing the mind of the boss. If boss says yes, they will parrot yes and if the boss says No, then they would vociferously say No. Do you not know “We have come to serve our boss and not Baingan!!       But later, it was reported widely in the news papers that Army insisted that Pakis have to endorse their present positions in Siachen in maps before any rearward movement can take place. As expected Pakis are not willing to endorse any such things.
18	217	Pranab’s support for the deal was in some doubt mainly because, according to some political observers, it was felt he may want to remain in the good books of the CPI(M) given his dependence on the Left to get re-elected to the Lok Sabha from West Bengal. Ronen’s outreach to Pranab and the reassuring reply was, therefore, helpful.	The nation’s interests are decided only after one’s personal interests are taken care of. To expect these political leaders would sacrifice nation’s interests to safeguard their own personal interests is not a far fetched accusation.     After all, the foreign invaders purchased loyalty of our native commanders when they were assured of high post in the foreigner’s army and lots of money after looting the native kingdom.
19	224	Perhaps Dr Singh’s mindfulness of the Left’s concerns over the India–US nuclear agreement may have led him to give up the idea of giving an extension to Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, who was handling the negotiations, and overlook the claims of over a dozen foreign service officials, to appoint Shivshankar Menon. On account of Shivshankar’s long-standing personal equations and family connections with Left leaders, the Left regarded him as a ‘friend’.	Mr Shivshankar Menon superseded 15 IFS officers to become Foreign Secretary. It becomes quite clear selection of senior appointments in the Armed Forces are result of your political connections at times.     It is rumoured that Mrs Bikram Singh, wife of COAS is related to wife of Dr MMS.       If you want to join any political party for any ideology you may believe, convince your wife to join the opposition party like our Chandra Babu Naidu of TDP and Smt Purandeshwari, his sister – in – law who is in Congress party as Minister (now joined BJP). Whichever party comes to power, your family interests are safeguarded, hell with National interests.
20	224	Once elections to the state assembly in Uttar Pradesh were announced, in early 2007, some DAE officials began to deliberately drag their feet, assuming a victory for Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party—at the time a critic of the nuclear deal—would weaken Dr Singh. They miscalculated in assuming that Mulayam’s public criticism of the nuclear deal was as ‘ideological’ as that of the Left, rather than just a bargaining chip with which he would eventually seek to strike a deal with the government, for whatever end. One senior DAE scientist–administrator had the audacity to suggest that Mulayam’s victory would mean the end of the nuclear deal, if not of Dr Singh himself.	Faujis must understand why political parties take a particular stand on any issue. It is not ideological but for striking deals later for personal gains as intimated by the author.       I can bet my last penny on Mulayam Singh Yadav not knowing even A-B-C of the Nuclear deal. You shout that you are opposing the bill. Dr MMS will come running to you for your support. Then you can bargain.      Mulayam was involved in disproportionate assets(DA) case for amassing wealth (disproportionate to his known sources of income) when he was CM of UP. So when SP’s support is sought for nuclear deal, he can demand CBI to give him a clean chit on this DA case.        It can therefore be surmised that national interests have no meaning for these political parties.
21	227	As Dr Singh watched Karat address the press on television, I was struck by the contemptuous manner in which the CPI(M) leader spoke, as he charged the government of giving up India’s ‘independent foreign policy’ and becoming an ally of an imperialist power.             The hypocrisy of the Left was exposed by the somersault Ram had to perform on the editorial pages of The Hindu. After proclaiming the 123 Agreement ‘sound and honourable’, he followed up with an editorial a few days later, toeing Karat’s line and advising the government to put the deal on hold. And Yechury, who had privately agreed that the PM had done what he had promised to, publicly criticized him.        The Left’s opposition evolved from being purely ideological into becoming a political ploy by Karat aimed at marginalizing all the pro-PM elements within his own party. Surjeet, Jyoti Basu, Buddhadeb and Yechury were the moderates. Having upstaged Surjeet, Karat used the issue of opposition to the nuclear deal as a way of consolidating his own position within the CPM.        L.K. Advani, too, chose to adopt a rigid stance to force his party to abandon the Vajpayee line and accept him as the new leader.         That afternoon Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who belonged to the CPI(M), revealed in public what we all knew in private. He expressed his anger at the political games Prakash Karat had been playing and at the wrecking of a coalition that he [Somnath] had helped construct. A short while earlier, he had refused to accept the CPI(M)’s demand that he quit as Lok Sabha Speaker because his party had withdrawn support to the UPA. Chatterjee had been elected Speaker as part of the Left’s understanding to support UPA. On 22 July he went on to chair a meeting of political parties in Parliament to resolve the crisis created by the so-called ‘cash-for-votes’ scandal and reconvened the Lok Sabha to put the confi dence motion to vote. The next day, the CPI(M) politburo met and expelled Chatterjee from the party’s membership. Chatterjee remained unfazed. He had not only disapproved of Karat’s tactics, but had also openly supported the prime minister and his initiative.	I have not been able to understand why General Secretaries of Left parties especially CPM behave like they are monarchs. Only views of General Secretary of the party prevail as if he is the king emperor.     You can see this trait in most of the communist countries right from Soviet Union where Lenin and Stalin called all the shots. Look at the fate of Leon Trotski and his supporters who opposed Stalin after demise of Lenin.         The so called politburo is a rubber stamp. Same is in China where the major decisions are taken by Mao Zedong, Deng Hsiao Ping et all. Even in erstwhile Yugoslavia, all decisions were taken by Marshal Tito.        CPM has the habit of throwing out staunch Marxists when they disagreed with majority view of politburo or the General Secretary. Look at the fate of Mrs Gowri Thomas of Kerala, Mr SA Dange of Maharashtra and Sri Somnath Chatterjee of West Bengal for sticking to their convictions.         Mr Prakash Karat, General Secretary, CPM takes the pride of place in ensuring CPM disintegrates and becomes a relic in India with his idiosyncrasies. All members of politburo of CPM are mere spectators.      When will communists learn that contrarian views are not dissent but such views will improve the overall standing of the party?          It appears to me whatever comes to the mind of General Secretary is ideology. Rest has to fall in line or get fired. It is reported Stalin killed 25 million (six times than Hitler) who opposed his policies and yet none of the communists ever criticize him.         Some veterans from West Bengal or Kerala with knowledge on Communism may like to enlighten me the difference between monarchy and communism.
22	264	Dr Singh’s five years of 9 per cent growth, his standing up to the Left on the nuclear deal in defence of the national interest, and the BJP voters’ disappointment with Advani’s lacklustre leadership had helped win the urban voter over.      What rural and Muslim voters had said to Vidya Subrahmaniam of The Hindu, when asked who they would support, truly summed up the mood. ‘Congress ko. Sardarji ko,’ they had said, calling the PM a ‘neyk aadmi’ (good man).       ‘So who is the architect of this victory?’ Pallavi asked Prithvi. ‘Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi Gandhi or Manmohan Singh?’ Prithvi, the man who was handpicked by Dr Singh to be his MoS in the PMO and kept there for a full fi ve years despite a lacklustre record, said the politically correct thing, ‘Both!’ He then added a spin, ‘This victory is a vote for Rahul Gandhi. Rahulji’s good work helped us win.’              I had encouraged the PM to stand his ground on the nuclear deal, I had projected the PM rather than Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi or Rahul, and so on. I then said what I had come prepared to say.      He (Dr MMS) said, ‘I am sorry about what happened. You see, you must understand one thing. I have come to terms with this. There cannot be two centres of power. That creates confusion. I have to accept that the party president is the centre of power. The government is  answerable to the party.’      This time round, he may have convinced himself, his performance and destiny had made him PM. Not Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi. Bit by bit, in the space of a few weeks, he was defanged (pp 273)     So, was he insisting that he be dismissed, or just giving Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi time to help her prepare Rahul for the transition? Was he overstaying her invitation or holding the fort? No convincing answers were available but the political and media speculation that went on weakened his authority further and damaged his reputation(pp 276).      .	Please note the admiration and love the author has towards his boss Dr MMS. If you find the anguish of the author, it is because Dr MMS not contesting Lok Sabha Elections in 2009 when his own popularity soared so high, he could have easily won his seat from Assam or Amritsar. My suspicion is :Madam would have realized the danger of Dr MMS getting elected to Lok Sabha on his own merit, then he will pose a greater danger than Pranab da, Chiddu, AK Antony all put together in UPA - II.              Pappu is now graduated to VIII standard but yet to pass his matriculation examination.        The author is pained to see Dr MMS not getting his due for the sterling work he did in UPA – I. So Congresswalas are naturally sore with the author for giving credit to Dr MMS and not to Mother – Son duo who did very little and whose capacity to do is also doubtful.      My own understanding is that with failing health, Dr MMS must have thought it is better to lie doggo and finish his second tenure and then fade away.      How long can you fight?      It is too much for anyone to fight every day a battle with one of his own party’s senior ministers and another day with ministers of alliance partners who indulged in scams so brazenly.      Dr MMS did not have support from his media advisor to see that good things done by him in UPA – II are properly publicized like Mr Sanjaya Baru did during UPA – II.         Congresswalas wanted Dr MMS to fail. So many of them gave information to the TV channels and print media about what is going on in the UPA-II. Since Pappu now decided to come on to the centre stage after coming to matriculation class, Dr MMS can be dispensed with.         But Dr MMS did not realize all senior ministers leaving a few wished that he fail at every step. They in their own way contributed immensely to the various scams for which UPA – II became notorious. Dr MMS felt it is the responsibility of Chairperson of UPA – II to rein in the scamsters. That is the mistake of Dr MMS as per the author.          Overall this is an excellent book written with passion, love, care, concern and loyalty the author showed to his boss. I do not think anyone can write so glowingly of Dr MMS in the future. Unless Dr MMS himself writes his memoirs truthfully, we may not actually know what happened behind the scenes during UPA – II.      The author deliberately did not disclose many things which he knew because he gave a promise to  his boss in 2004 before he accepted the assignment. Here is the confession of the author in his own words;      ‘I have respected that understanding to this day. This book does not contain any material that I promised Dr Singh I would not share with anyone else. That places on me even greater responsibility to ensure that this book is an honest account of my time with the PM, offering my view of what I saw and believed had happened.’
23	3	My suggestion that Dr Singh be made PM was not a new idea. I had floated it five years earlier, almost to the date, on 25 May 1999, in a column in the Times of India. This was shortly after Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi Gandhi’s failed attempt to form a Congress-led coalition government after the fall of a BJP-led government. She had famously and, as it turned out, erroneously announced, ‘We have 272 (MPs), and we hope to get more.’ Provocatively titled ‘Perils of Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi Gandhi as PM’, my column advised Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi to resist the temptation of claiming the job and, instead, name Manmohan Singh as PM, were Congress to form a government.	This tells us why the congresswalas wanted to see back of Mr Sanjy Baru as Media Advisor to PM.
		I was amused and surprised to hear that question from the usually selfconfident Chidambaram. There was already speculation in the media that he would be given charge of commerce or telecommunications, and I mentioned that to him. He retorted angrily, ‘Mr Editor, I have been fi nance minister before! Do you think I will accept anything less than a senior Cabinet position?’ The fi nance minister sits, along with the PM, the external affairs, defence and home ministers, on Raisina Hill. These are the leading occupants of Delhi’s North and South Blocks. They are all members of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), a body that has seen its clout grow in an era of national security and nuclear power	For us the faujis, these matters appear to be silly and of no consequence as to who will sit next to CO, who will face him and who will get the job of Adjutant when the new CO takes over.       But in politics, power is how close you are to the centre of power. I just remind you the scene created by Sri Sharad Pawar, after Pranab da became President of India. He wanted to be seated next to PM in Cabinet meetings as he is seniormost minister in UPA – II after exit of Pranab da.       As per protocol, the seniormost minister sits next to PM on one side and Cabinet Secretary sits on the other side of PM. Sharad Pawar demanded that he be seated next to PM as he is now the senior most minister in the cabinet. But wily AK Antony saw to that he sits next to PM being from the same party as that of PM.     If sitting next to PM is so important, just imagine the importance of the portfolios in the council of ministers.      These ministers later claim that any portfolio is good as long they get a chance to serve the Nation. The author by this comment of Chiddu tells us these are all hollow words not to be taken seriously at all.
24	24	Dr Singh was squeamish about associating with the Hinduja brothers, rich Sindhi businessmen based in Europe who were accused at the time of being middlemen in the Bofors gun deal, the cause of a long-running political scandal. Ironically, years later, when Dr Singh was negotiating the nuclear deal with the US and had to keep a line open to Iran while reaching out to US senators and Congressmen, it was the Hinduja brothers, legally cleared by now of the Bofors charges,who played a key role in winning support for India both in Washington DC and Tehran	We faujis being simpletons do not know how powerful these businessmen are. They almost control Government policies even in foreign countries to suit and enhance their business interests.      Hindujas own Ashok Leyland and other business entities in India.       It was rumoured that Mukesh Ambani funded election expenses of Ms Hillory Rodham Clinton when she ran for US senate after her ill famous husband Bill Clinton completed his second innings at White House.        Howsoever rich you may be, you can not buy a company abroad unless you have political support of that country.
25	31	‘So what room have they given you?’ he(Sri HY Sharada Prasad, Press Secretary to Mrs Indira Gandhi for 16 years) asked keenly, as any veteran of the PMO would, knowing how much perceptions about an official’s proximity to the PM, and hence his power and infl- uence, were shaped by what room he had been given.	Again for us faujis, office rooms in our unit do not matter as we are more concerned with our operational tasks.  When I see Secretaries to Govt or Ministers fighting for a particular room, I never understood the importance of the room. The closer – physically and officially - you are to the power centre, the greater are your chances for upward mobility, influence, respect and power etc.       But of late this malady for fighting for seats closer to the senior officer has crept even in Army.
26	34	Dr Singh’s three key aides in the PMO happened to be, by mere happenstance, Malayalees and all Nairs to boot: J.N. ‘Mani’ Dixit, the new national security adviser (NSA), T.K.A. Nair, the prime minister’s principal secretary, and M.K. Narayanan, the special adviser for internal security.	The reason for Dr MMS to give preference to Mallus was because his mentor was Sri K.N Raj, doyen of Indian Economics and Director of Delhi School of Economics. Sri K.N Raj was a Keralite.      Dr MMS never forgot role of Sri K.N.Raj in his grooming and support & guidance he received from his mentor in his long public service. Dr MMS served under Sri K.N Raj in Delhi School of Economics leaving a very prestigious appointment in UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) Geneva.
27	36	Pulok(Chatterjee, IAS), who was inducted into the Manmohan Singh PMO at the behest of Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi Gandhi, had regular, almost daily, meetings with Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi at which he was said to brief her on the key policy issues of the day and seek her instructions on important fi les to be cleared by the PM. Indeed, Pulok was the single most important point of regular contact between the PM and Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi. He was also the PMO’s main point of contact with the National Advisory Council (NAC), a high-profile advisory body chaired by Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi Gandhi, with social activists as members. It was sometimes dubbed the Shadow Cabinet.	The truth that Smt Sonia Gandhi was real power centre was a closely guarded secret (not to be disclosed to the public). The PMO and congresswalas are angry with the author for letting the cat out of the bag. This in any case was known to many opposition leaders even in 2004.      Many secrets of Nehruji which are tumbling out of his cupboards, his liaisons with many young and attractive women, his failure on many fronts as PM are causing untold misery to the congresswalas.         Mr Venkaiah Naidu of BJP remarked “PM proposes and Madam disposes”.
28	44	The media got wind of this internal turf war, with a senior journalist being briefed by Brajesh Mishra(NSA and Principle Secretary to Mr AB Vajpayee of NDA), who in turn had heard of it from his subordinates who were still in the PMO and were in touch with him. It was then decided that an office order would be issued clarifying the individual responsibilities of Nair, Dixit and Narayanan. This was then made public	Now do you know why all retired service chiefs like to settle down in and around New Delhi? It is simply because they place their favourites in important places while they were service chiefs. The old subordinates then pay back favours to their previous bosses after their retirement.      Power in Delhi even after retirement is measured by how close you are to power centres, how many chamchas of yours are in positions of power and how much information you have on each and every issue.        Then you can pass on this information to media houses. Then media houses look after you well (by paying for your air fares when you want to visit exotic locations even abroad) and you would be invited for lunches and dinners in 5 star hotels where you can meet the high and mighty. This depends upon how much reliable information you can give it to media houses so that they can flash it as BREAKING NEWS to get better TRPs and earn more advertisement revenues.       Now, I am sure you have understood how in TV panel discussions all these worthies mouth pearls of wisdom gained by getting tit bits from their old subordinates still in important positions. You can always say that you got this information from horse’s mouth.        Media houses call you frequently for TV panel discussions if you have Latest Information.
29	50	But when I went back to him with her (Mrs Anu Aga, Chairperson of Thermax Ltd, Pune) acceptance (as member of Planning Commission), the PM looked sheepish and informed me that he had already agreed to appoint Syeda Hameed, a Muslim writer and social activist, and so, I was told, there was no place left for Anu. Clearly, the ‘gender’ and ‘minority’ boxes had been filled up with Syeda’s appointment. I was left with the embarrassing task of explaining away the confusion to Anu. What I obviously could not say to her was that the political benefits of rewarding a Muslim may well have trumped those of appointing a Parsi! To my dismay, even Dr Singh seemed to take this embarrassment lightly.	In no country, this muslim card is so nicely played by politicians as in India. You find few eminent Parsees in Pakistan holding important positions in Government.     If as PM you can not get a team of your choice in Planning Commission, it is a sad commentary on your authority. You do not have any other suitable appointment if you are forced to accommodate a muslim?       Look at the advantage of having Mrs Anu Aga, a corporate honcho (though a Parsee) in Planning Commission for the country. This would have improved our foreign direct investment and accommodating concerns of business community for rapid industrial development. This also would have improved foreign investor confidence in India.     Yet the Congress does not stop beating their breasts as to how much secular they are and how communal the BJP is!!
30	50	The days when the Planning Commission was composed entirely of subject experts were long gone. Various political and social quotas had now to be fi lled. North, south, scheduled caste, woman, minority. In the era of coalitions, every constituent political party wanted to name a member. For the PM, himself a former deputy chairman, the Planning Commission had become the place where he could park a trusted aide.	We must thank the author for revealing a fact that even respected institutions like Planning Commission who are supposed to be ultimate authorities have to follow quota system in filling important functionaries. Merit is not the sole criterion any more!!       I am sure the situation would not be different in other important institutions like UPSC, UGC, C&AG, CVC, MCI, MDI etc.       Mr Desi Raju, IAS former Secretary in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was shunted out as he opposed the re-induction of a erstwhile head of MCI (Medical Council of India) a guy know as Dr Desai who was caught red handed for accepting money for enhancing seats in medical colleges. Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Health Minister was reported to be keen to get that corrupt fellow back into MCI. May be to collect haftas(lagan) regularly.       Mr Parakh, IAS (Retd), former Coal Secretary in 2003-05 in his latest book also tells us that Mr Shibu Soren and Mr Dasari Narayan Rao, hon’ble ministers of Coal were demanding Rs 50 lakhs as one time payment and Rs 10 lakhs per month for appointment of CMD of Coal India Ltd.       The story of nephew of Mr PK Bansal, former Railway Minister getting bribe amount to the tune of Rs 11 crores to give an appointment of Member Electrical in Railway Board is well known. The guy was appointed as Member Staff in Railway Board (non revenue earning post) and wanted the post of Member (Electrical) who is responsible to carry out massive electrification works in Railways.        Poor fellow PK Bansal is now striving very hard to get elected from Chandigarh in 2014 elections and hope to become Railway Minister in UPA-III to collect balance bribe money agreed upon for the appointment.
31	68	Apart from the weekly meeting of the Congress ‘core group’, initially comprising Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi, the PM, Arjun Singh, A.K. Antony, Pranab Mukherjee and Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, and messages exchanged through two intermediaries, Pulok and Patel, or occasional telephone conversations, there was not much other regular contact between Dr Singh and Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi in the early years of UPA-1. The core group met regularly at 7 RCR. Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi would arrive fi rst and get her exclusive ten minutes with Dr Singh. That was when the two spoke to each other in private. Once their one-to-one conversation was over, the others would be invited in. Dr Singh rarely spoke in the core-group meetings. He would hear what others had to say and take his decisions after having another word with Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi.	The formation of Core Group is the first step, as it appears to me, taken by Smt Sonia Gandhi to destroy Cabinet system of governance which was scrupulously followed till May 2004. Though  Sonia Gandhi was Chairperson of UPA, she was not a Cabinet minister, hence can not take part in deliberatons of Cabinet.      Destruction of another institution i.e. CCPA(Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs) which takes major decisions was also complete for the same reasons. It was later substituted by Core Group.        The American Saying that ‘If does not require, do not fix it’ was true in this case. When the Cabinet which swore to the secrecy is the official agency even as per constitution to govern the country functioned so well from 1947 till 2004, then why change it?.       Smt Sonia Gandhi who was not a sworn as Cabinet Minister wanted to make the Cabinet system irrelevant.        Even Jawahar Lal Nehru never allowed the Congress President any such leeway to have any interaction with day to day functioning of the Government.       Look at the members of the Core Group: Arjun Singh, AK Antony, Pranab Mukherjee who made no secret of their antipathy to Dr MMS. This way Smt Sonia Gandhi clipped the wings of PM and did not give him the freedom to think and act independently like a true PM.       To further tighten her control over the Government, she introduced NAC(National Advisory Council) in addition to the Core Group. With these two un-constitutional bodies, Smt Sonia Gandhi ensured the Cabinet becomes a rubber stamp. The job Cabinet got to do after formation of Core Group and NAC is just to sign on the dotted line.
32	70	Politics is about power and patronage, and ministerial positions are won not just on the basis of competence but also in recognition of a politician’s political clout or loyalty to the leader. For Congress MPs, the leader to please was always Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi. They did not see loyalty to the PM as a political necessity, nor did Dr Singh seek loyalty in the way in which Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi and her aides sought it. That Jairam’s loyalty was only with Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi became clearer within weeks of his becoming a minister when he chose to embarrass the PM by leaking a letter that Smt Smt Sonia Gandhi Gandhi had written to Dr Singh cautioning him against pursuing an initiative he valued a lot—the free trade agreement (FTA) with member countries of the ASEAN.	To us faujis who get our ranks purely based on merit, hard work and professional competence, to see politicians even third rate ones becoming ministers because of recommendations, caste factors etc is really surprising and non comprehensible. These guys are supposed to make policies to govern the country.       In very short time, only because of his unquestionable loyalty to Smt Sonia Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, a member of Rajya Sabha became a cabinet minister. He is one of the think tanks whose sole job is to nod his head when madam Smt Sonia Gandhi says anything silly or good.       Jairam Ramesh hails from Chickmagalur of Karnataka but always gets elected to Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh. Yet, his singular contribution is to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and Seema-Andhra. This has ensured that Congress party is wiped out in undivided A.P in 2014 (a state sent 33 Lok Sabha MPs in 2009 which enabled Congress party to form UPA-II). Congress party was wiped out in Tamilnadu in 1967 and since then they could not come to power on their own.      This act of Jairam Ramesh can be called ‘Khanewali Thali me Ched Karna’.
33	70	Dr Singh viewed the India-ASEAN FTA as an important geopolitical initiative aimed at India’s economic integration into the rapidly growing Asian economies and as being helpful in balancing China’s growing clout in Asia. The CPI(M), on the other hand, choseto oppose the India-ASEAN FTA on the grounds that it would hurt the interests of plantation workers in Kerala and West Bengal.	I have never understood the love CPM and other Left parties have for China. The undivided CPI blamed India for 1962 Sino – Indian War. None of these so called Communist intellectuals utter one word condemning China when they say Arunachal is part of China. The communists appear to be more loyal to China than India from their opposition to this ASEAN FTA agreement. Growth of Chinese economy is no of consequence to the communists.

Pardon me for any spelling and grammatical mistakes.

I solicit your comments. I would like you to contradict me of course with facts so that others can see from different perspectives and get a better picture.    

With warm regards,

Brig(Retd) CS Vidyasagar

Brig (Retd) CS Vidyasagar.