It never pays for a mainstream politician to be holier than thou.
—Ashis Nandy, political psychologist
We are a pragmatic people and we expect our leaders to be practical, not idealistic.
—Gurcharan Das, writer
He has scored as a politician by his expedience—you can’t absolve him entirely.
—Ashokamitran, writer
Manmohan Singh is an honourable man but he has to run a government.
—Ramachandra Guha, historian/writer
He’s no accidental prime minister and knows well that coalitions are greased by money.
—Mukul Kesavan, social historian
He is no Mahatma Gandhi, thank god, because Gandhi would have been a disaster as head of the government
—Andre Beteille, sociologist
This was his anointment as a politician, he grew from a gentleman to a political leader
—Mushirul Hasan, historian
He’s a technocrat and let his party colleagues do what they do best
—Khushwant Singh, writer
***
A bit of dirt, as political psychologist Ashis Nandy points out, far from tarnishing Manmohan’s reputation as an honest man, will probably enhance his image as a shrewd politician. "It never pays for a mainstream politician to appear holier-than-thou. He must know which side of the bread is buttered in order to be a pragmatic politician." Agrees sociologist Andre Beteille: "It’s wildly unrealistic to expect any prime minister not to be aware of the horse-trading that goes on in running a government. Don’t tell me there was no skulduggery in Nehru’s time—you can’t stay in politics if you act only on principles."
What is more, as former attorney general Soli Sorabjee says, "other politicians won’t dismiss him so lightly now that he has shown he can deliver".
"He’s certainly scored as a politician," admits Tamil writer Ashokamitran. "He can’t be entirely absolved of doing the expedient thing. It’s now clear that he’s a practical, pragmatic politician and not an idealist."
"Someone who initiated a coalition move is inured to the idea that coalitions are greased with money," explains Mukul Kesavan, social historian. "Despite radiating integrity, Manmohan surely has no illusions about his party. You don’t get to be finance minister and then prime minister by accident. You have to be a pretty networked politician."
"He’s been in politics long enough to know he has to compromise," agrees historian Ramachandra Guha. What surprised him, says Guha, was not so much the possibility of horse-trading by the ruling coalition over which Manmohan presides, but the moral outrage that the media professed afterwards. "The problem of corruption has been with us for 20 years so why are we waking up to it today? Only two weeks ago, the BJP had to buy five independents to form the government in Karnataka, so how can L.K. Advani get sanctimonious now?"
An exchange of favours for votes is nothing new, agrees Nandy. What has changed, according to him, is the social strata of parliamentarians. "The ones who opt for hard cash are usually those who don’t have other assets to fall back on. And because they take cash instead of other perks, they are the ones to get caught, never the MPs from higher rungs of society." The middle class, ever self-righteous at the expense of politicians, better get used to it, Nandy suggests, in the same way that Manmohan has come to terms with it. "At least the prime minister will sound less self-righteous now," he reasons.
Even someone as unashamedly partisan as Khushwant Singh admits some level of "political management" that occurs on such occasions. But knowing about it is not the same as soiling your hands, Khushwant argues. "He’s a technocrat and he let his party colleagues do what they do best." It is "the anointment" of Manmohan the gentleman into a political leader, as historian Mushirul Hasan puts it.
So what happens to Manmohan’s image as Mr Clean? Manmohan has never projected himself as Mr Clean, Beteille argues. Quite wisely, some would argue, considering how that image was the undoing of Rajiv Gandhi. As Sorabjee says, "No one can be Mr Clean today’s politics and run a government."
"All he’s ever projected of himself is that he’s an honest, upright person who pays his taxes and comes to office on time," says Beteille. "He never said he’s a knight in shining armour nor did he expect to end his career with a halo. He’s no Mahatma Gandhi and thank god for that, because Gandhi would have been disastrous as head of any government. They would have thrown him out." While politics is a matter of principles, Beteille argues, "it’s also a matter of pragmatic operation". In other words, personal integrity is one thing and being a pragmatic politician is another, and the two can coexist.
"We don’t need idealists in politics," agrees Gurcharan Das, author of India Unbound. "Indians have been raised on a steady diet of Mahabharata where even Yudhishtira had to realise that he can’t maintain absolute morality. We are a practical, pragmatic people and we expect our leaders to be the same."
"You can’t be an innocent in the thick of politics," as Mushirul says. "Prime ministers from Nehru’s time were forced to turn a blind eye to the wheeling and dealing that goes on in running a government." Where Manmohan scored, according to Mushirul, is in "outmanouvering his opponents with a degree of skill without staining his personal reputation."
None of the intellectuals Outlook spoke to would disagree with that. "He steered his party over a risky hurdle and the reason why his reputation wasn’t tarnished was because it was he who forced the issue out of personal conviction. A person who wanted to stay in power wouldn’t have risked his government the way Manmohan did on Tuesday," explains Kesavan. "His opponents blinked, he didn’t."
Agrees Guha: "Manmohan is an honourable man but he has to run a government and he knows he has to compromise. But what we discovered in Tuesday’s trust vote is that he also has an angry, combative side and can be as tough as his opponents."
"He’s risen in stature in the entire country," says Khushwant, "the only member in Parliament who sat impassively through the whole drama, showing no anger or disgust when money was being flung around, nor a sign of rejoicing when he won the trust vote. His cold steel determination to stake his future proved not only his personal integrity but also squashed Advani’s accusations of being nikamma, weak and indecisive."
But stain or no stain, there’s another risk that Manmohan should now worry about after the trust vote, according to the intellectuals. With the bar being raised, it is to the prime minister that his party will now turn to get them over the many hurdles in store before the next elections.
