A Prime Minister who took everyone along. A detached politician who was never power-hungry. A bold leader who had no enemies.
Dr Manmohan Singh was all this and more. His extreme patience and genuine warmth could disarm anyone, remembers veteran Congress leader and ex-defence minister AK Antony, who had a seven-year-and-seven-month-long cabinet tenure with Dr Singh.
Antony, as Defence minister, was part of the five-member cabinet panel on security affairs, chaired by the PM, with ministers of Home, External Affairs and Finance being the other members. He recalls that cabinet meetings then were occasions of detailed discussions where each issue was analysed threadbare.
"Detailed discussions were held in cabinet meetings, and every member was given a chance to air their opinions. Everyone who wanted to speak could do so. Pranab (Mukherjee) would be the last to speak. The PM would then sum up with a few points of his own. All decisions were unanimous," he recalls.
When it came to matters related to security and defence, Antony was usually allowed to have the last word. "Dr Singh and Sonia Gandhi ensured I had enough freedom to take decisions. This made it easy for me to overcome all external pressures."
Were there occasions when his decisions were overruled? Only rarely. Even then, Dr Singh ensured that he took Antony along.
"He would always take everyone along. In fact, a few of his own suggestions never made their way into the final decisions at times. He was large-hearted and wise enough to allow that," says Antony, with his famous chuckle.
The veteran leader, who was more or less a permanent fixture in the close circles of both Dr Singh and Sonia Gandhi, was privy to not just security matters and internal deliberations, but also to the political equations at play. Was there any kind of power struggle between the then Congress president and the Prime Minister?
"They worked together for 10 long years. It was very evident that there was enormous mutual respect and they used to communicate with each other. Yes, there were many attempts to drive a wedge between Sonia Gandhi and Dr Singh. But despite there being occasional differences of opinion between them, these never grew into conflicts. Till his death, they maintained good relations. There was never a power struggle between the two," he emphasises.
The reason was simple, according to Antony. "He was never a man who hungered after power. Sonia Gandhi, meanwhile, was someone who chose to reject the Prime Ministership. Both of them were not power hungry in the least."
So, was Dr Singh a reluctant Prime Minister? "He was detached," Antony concedes. Prime Ministership was an unexpected call for him. "Everyone thought that Sonia Gandhi would become the PM. She refused. It was then a question of who next. He was the surprise choice."
What about the second tenure? Were there doubts on Dr Singh continuing as PM? "Never," says Antony categorically.
For Singh, Sonia Gandhi was always his first counsellor. On rare occasions, he used to call two of his senior cabinet colleagues – Pranab and Antony himself – to discuss crucial matters. At times, it would be Antony and Ahmed Patel, Sonia's political secretary.
It was Manmohan, who as the Finance Minister under PM Narasimha Rao, came to be seen as the architect of liberalisation. Yet, Antony says, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh turned out to be different from the Finance Minister Manmohan Singh.
"Contrary to what's being made out, Manmohan Singh was never a weak PM. He was a strong leader. Otherwise, how could he take such bold decisions? Look at what he did as the Finance Minister. When he became the Prime Minister, he made some changes to his stance.
"Stabilising the economy was key priority when he was elevated to the top job. He opted for a kind of detour from liberalisation in favour of major social welfare measures. This was a time when farmer suicides were creating ripples across India. His first initiative was to write off farmer debts. Such a bold decision! He implemented MGNREGA, closely followed by the (National) Food Security Act. Wasn't this another bold decision? Even when the entire lot of economists opposed this, he went ahead with the decision.
"Then there's the Land Acquisition Act (Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.) Similarly, the RTI Act of 2005. Who else would agree to such a landmark legislation?" asks Antony.
The ex-Defence minister also remembers how Manmohan commanded wide respect among his global peers. His dignity and grace were always acknowledged, Antony underlines.
"The then US President George Bush used to like him a lot. They shared a good chemistry. So was the case with Putin! He also shared good relations with Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. He maintained good relations with the US, Russia, and China. There were no unresolved crises with China during his tenure. Manmohan was able to restore it to the status quo. Patience and determination were his hallmarks."
He also remembers how Manmohan treated everyone with respect, even the leaders of the Opposition. "He had huge respect for (AB) Vajpayee and (Harkishan Singh) Surjeet."
Was Dr Singh unhappy with the scam allegations that plagued UPA-II? "He certainly was unhappy. He gave his ministers enough freedom. Some of the allegations were even made up. The media too had turned hostile."
Losing in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls from Delhi was painful for Dr Singh, remembers Antony. He had unsuccessfully contested from South Delhi. Similarly, he was tense during the India-US civil nuclear deal. "He didn't wish to part ways with the Left and wanted to carry them along. Had Surjeet been alive, it would have been possible."
Did India lose anything due to the nuclear deal? "Even now India has good relations with both the US and Russia. Russia remains the first friend. We could also maintain good relations with Iran, with whom India shares historical ties. With Iran, cultural relations come first, and then oil. The relations with Iran didn't hurt our ties with either US or Russia," Antony emphasizes.
Born on the other side of the border and later migrating to India – like the BJP stalwart LK Advani – Manmohan Singh nursed a couple of grand dreams. In these matters, especially at the beginning, he was an idealist.
"He dreamt of India and Pakistan having open borders. Later, he realised that it was not practical, especially with the kind of control that the Pakistan military exercised on its government.
"He also dreamt of turning Siachen – the highest battlefield in the world - into a garden. These were dreams he nurtured in the early days. Coming from Punjab, it was natural for him to do so. In matters related to borders, he nurtured western ideals of open borders, without fencing, as he was someone who has seen people and lives divided by borders," Antony says.
"The bureaucrats who worked with him were a highly relaxed lot. He was a champion of federalism and took extreme care to maintain central-state relations. He was someone who believed in diversity and democratic values. Recently, he even came to Parliament in a wheelchair to cast his vote," he goes on to add.
Antony remembers that Dr Singh had a special place for Malayalis in his heart. His office and official residence had a number of Malayali officials, right from his principal secretary TKA Nair. "I heard that Nair came on Manmohan Singh's radar through ex-PM IK Gujral."
Antony maintained relations with Dr Singh even after 2014. Incidentally, the Congress veteran shared his memories of his erstwhile senior colleague on the eve of his birthday. The ex-Kerala Chief Minister turned 84 on Saturday.
He also remembered a famous trip to Chennai when Dr Singh and Antony went together to meet the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha at her Poes Garden residence. "As directed by Sonia Gandhi, we went together to meet Jayalalitha to forge an alliance. She was surprised to see him," Antony recalls.
Only once did he see Dr Singh sharply criticising someone. "It was the first and last time I saw him airing such strong words. This was just after the demonetisation fiasco. It was a brief-yet-strongly-worded written speech that lasted 3-4 minutes, wherein he termed demonetisation an organised loot and legalised plunder. He shocked everyone. He was so upset with that decision. I doubt whether he has ever directed such sharp criticism at anyone else in his entire life," Antony concludes.
