What the aspiring leaders of India can learn from Dr Manmohan Singh
Dr VK Bahuguna
December 31, 2024
(The writer is the former Director-General in the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India)
As the country mourn the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who breathed his last on 26th December 2024 at the age of 92. The world leaders condoling the death of a man who was a common man’s Prime Minister and a golden boy of destiny. He ruled the nation for 10 years after having successfully dealt with the economic crisis of 1991 when the then Prime Minister Narsimha Rao appointed him Finance Minister and the rest is history of dismantling the license raj and ushered in economic liberalization of economy and the nation is grateful to him and the Narsimha Rao for opening up the economy of caged lion that is India the benefits of which the nation is reaping today.
I write this article when the country’s politics is witnessing high conflicts and drama and entire gamut of politicians coming from a background which is miles away from Dr Manmohan Singh’s academic background as most of the time the politicians are jostling with each other in the quest for power, position and money. The fractured polity of India is the creation of politics of power and money which also seamlessly spreads across sectors of society and administration. Dr Manmohan Singh was born in Pakistan and came to India as a poor student but due to sheer dent of his talent, perseverance and hard work obtained scholarship and attained high educational qualifications as economist from the University of Cambridge and Oxford. As an academician and economist he served the nation with dignity and aplomb as an officer and bureaucrat in the Planning Commission, Chief Economic Advisor and Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Chairman of University Grant Commission and finally as politician member of Rajya Sabha for more than 30 years and Prime Minister for 10 year. The luck favours the brave as the saying goes and he had plenty of it.
No Prime Minister had in the past nor in the near distant future is going to have such a background and rich profile as Dr Man Mohan Singh had and with this he had etched his name in the history of India. As such no academician or economist in India could hope to achieve the post of Prime Minister of India considering our varied polity and its nature. Most of the professional end up on bureaucratic posts and some may occupy the constitutional position of President or Vice-President of India or Governors. Sonia Gandhi will also be remembered for choosing him as Prime Minister of India after she was elected as leader of Congress Parliamentary Party in the year 2004 and refused to hold the post considering opposition to her foreign origin.
The Indian masses specially educated elite and young brains aspiring to be great leaders in many fields including politics must take several lessons from the life of Dr Manmohan Singh. The first, he was talented and humble but more than that he had a very high emotional intelligence. These days lot of people in diverse field end up failures even though they had high calibre, capability, knowledge and intelligence but lack emotional intelligence. It is the emotional intelligence that frames the mental makeup of individuals reflected in their demeanour while dealing with people of diverse background and situations. The second, he had uncanny talent to perceive things with poise and confidence coming his way and organizing his capability in most efficient manner for the benefit of his organizations and ultimately for the country as Prime Minister of India and for his party. Many of our leaders in politics as also in bureaucracy lack poise and confidence and that results in making mistakes at crucial times. Third is how to handle provocative situations and when to be outspoken. This quality is essential while handling diversified issues with conflicting claims and counter claims in both politics and administration. The fourth is when to be silent like when Rahul Gandhi tore a proposed bill of his government publically; and act firm like a solid rock and take a decision to its logical end without any compromise. The iron will he had shown when while signing the nuclear deal with America had shown his strong commitment and capability to carry his decision to its logical end despite the fact that the CPM withdrew support for his government. His government was however, bailed out by the Samajwadi party but it has shown his strong personality as a national leader while dealing with international diplomacy. This attitude is hallmark of excellent leaders who can balance things considering what is best for the governance and the country. The fifth lesson which is most important for today’s leaders is; he was above favouritism, caste or religion and thus deftly handled his government with loyalty to his party leader and the country. However, some time the hangers on in the power especially in the bureaucracy do play mischief as observed by this writer nevertheless, such things happen always with all powerful posts and people. Though he was criticised by opposition but he maintained his poise and firmly remain loyal to his way of doing things and because of his scholarly eloquence and demeanours he was respected by all world leaders who mattered in international diplomacy.
Dr Manmohan Singh the academician per excellence achieved dazzling heights and such persona are born in politics once in a century or not born at all. Hope the current politicians of his party and the budding politicians’/social and administrative aspirants imbibe these virtues to become effective leaders of tomorrow which India need today.
(Tripurainfo)