Indian PM Manmohan Singh's insult continues; US n UK

PM Manmohan Singh labelled as 'underachiever' in Time magazine

In a global punch, US-based Time magazine has dubbed PM Manmohan Singh as an 'underachiever', saying he appears unwilling to stick his neck out on reforms that will bring India's economy on track.

In its latest Asia edition, the magazine featured the 79-year-old on the cover with a title reading 'The Underachiever - India needs a reboot'. Inside, the story has the heading 'A Man in Shadow' and a blurb: 'India is stalling. To turn it around, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must emerge from his private and political gloom'. 

The report dissects the ills that have befallen the UPA-II government in the background of perceived policy paralysis, coalition compulsions, a diarchal power-sharing system with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, a string of scams and the fallout of the anti-graft crusade by Team Anna. 

The Prime Minister's Office was quick to rebut the inferences. 

An angry official said: 'Time is suffering from a time lag. Most of the media in India and abroad is welcoming Dr Manmohan Singh taking over the reins of the Indian economy, which is reflected in their reporting the whole week.' Time's stinging article, however, begins with the question: 'Is PM Manmohan Singh up to the job?' 

It later says that 'with the rupee hitting record lows, a yawning fiscal deficit and a lack of economic direction from the government's brass, investors at home and abroad are developing cold feet, as rising inflation and a litany of scandals chip away at the government's credibility'. 

The magazine buttresses its article by saying: 'In a recent national poll, nearly 60 per cent of urbanites said PM Singh and his coalition had lost the right to govern.' 

The report indicts the government for succumbing to allies like the Trinamool Congress which is holding up key reform bills such as FDI in retail.

'Laws that could help create growth and jobs are stuck in Parliament, sparking concerns that politicians have lost the plot in their focus on shorter-term, populist measures that will win votes,' it says. But Congress's Manish Tewari said: 'In eight years, the UPA headed by PM Singh has provided political stability, social harmony, internal cohesion, economic growth and a greater role in global affairs. 

This by no stretch of imagination is underachievement.' While the party trashed the report, the BJP endorsed it. Leader Yashwant Sinha said: 'I have been saying for many years that Singh is overrated.

It seems the rest of the country and the world are coming to the same conclusion now. I think Singh reached his level of inefficiency when he became PM. All through his career he has been number two. He got kudos for economic reforms which took place under Narasimha Rao. I had left a fully prepared Budget which he presented. 

He became PM on the strength of that reputation.' A senior Congress leader alleged that Time's write-up was inspired by US lobbies and multinationals. 'They are trying to pressure the PM into acting fast - opening FDI in retail to help MNCs like Wal- Mart. There is a pattern in India and Manmohan Singhbashing. Earlier, S&P and Fitch had downgraded India,' he said. RJD chief Lalu Prasad said: 'Time's report must have been dictated by Team Anna', while SP's Mohan Singh pointed out that 'the whole world is going through an economic crisis and one person or government can't be blamed for it'. 

'Time should think about its own President (Barack Obama) whose economic policies have pushed the whole world into crisis. The US has a tendency to look down upon others,' he said.

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PM's insult continues; UK daily calls him Sonia's "poodle"

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London, Jul 16: After the "underachiever" remark made by the Time magazine was slammed and celebrated by the Opposition and other UPA detractors, there seem to be more brickbats in the offing for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when international newspaper, 'The Independent' had a headline that read, "Manmohan Singh - India's saviour or Sonia's poodle?"

The headline itself was reportedly changed a couple of times, with the term "poodle" being changed to "puppet" and then later changed to the Time magazine's headline last week that called the PM 'the underachiever'.

The insult did not stop there when the newspaper report commented that the Prime Minister's reforming zeal had evaporated and slowed the country's growth. The British daily also observed that the PM had "no genuine political power" and owed his position to Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

According to the article, Manmohan Singh's problem is that "he has no genuine political power. Rather, he owes his position to Sonia Gandhi, widow of formerPrime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, mother of Rahul and Congress Party chairwoman, who to the delight of India's middleclass selected him for that role when her party won a surprise victory in 2004".

It added, "This has meant he has sometimes been unable to even control his cabinet and his failure to more quickly address the actions of a coalition minister, accused of defrauding the country up to $40bn in a telecom licence scam, led to him being accused of further weakness."

Quoting critics in the business, the report said that the PM's "reforming zeal has evaporated and slowed the country's growth, while political opponents say he has overseen an administration that has revealed itself to be mired in corruption. From within his ruling Congress Party there are repeated, if oblique, demands for him to step aside ahead in favour of his presumed successor, Rahul Gandhi."