Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal’s characterisation, on a TV channel on Tuesday, of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a non-political person who did not understand the intricacies of coalition politics could not have come at a worse moment.
Coming as it does on the heels of two books, one written by Dr. Singh’s former media adviser, Mr. Jaiswal’s remarks have provided more ammunition to the Opposition parties.
“He [Dr. Singh] was never a political person,” Mr. Jaiswal told NDTV, when asked why the PM wasn’t visible in the Congress’s campaign. “Neither did he participate in active politics. He suddenly became Prime Minister and he did good work. During UPA II, it was an alliance government. To run an alliance government is tough. Since he has not been in politics, he is paying for it.”
Mr. Jaiswal said Dr. Singh was “unaware of what the alliance partners were doing.
“He used to understand the political manoeuvres of modern politics, but he did not try to counter those moves. It was not his nature.”
