Jograaj 4 February 2012 02:01 PM A balaced article and very well researched piece of work. Great job! It will be good if you could profile other Indian politicians as well in a similar neutral tone. All the best for your journalistic career!

Mani 22 November 2011 01:03 AM Too verbose..ended up analyzing singh's past and an account of events that happened well before, which are highly documented and analyzed in detail..the article had very little of singh's power declining after the scam, the current agitation, sonia's illness, rahul's rise..very weak in terms of contemporary issues..a lil caught out at the end in terms of content, gr8 effort thou

Neil Kitson 9 November 2011 08:44 AM I found this article to be very interesting and it was a pleasure to read.

narayanan 30 October 2011 07:55 PM The dark umbrella does not allow light to fall on the head of the beholder.

Mahalingam Sankriti 27 October 2011 06:15 PM Very well researched and written article. no one, including this writer gives PVN the credit he deserves. He ran the coalition govt. without the help of "madam' as is well known. MMS has somewhere said' do not give me the credit. PVN stood behind me like a rock."In comparison MMS is a weakling. Further if you analyse the so-called liberlisation movement,no one gives credit to Rajaji and his ideas in "swatantra". the congress used to brand him as a capitalist and worse!

R.V.S.Sharma 26 October 2011 10:05 PM The writer earning his bread the hardest way.Why such a lengthy article to say nothing ? Malayali loquaciousness is hard to be cured !

kjram 14 October 2011 08:07 PM A balanced analysis of the two sides of MM Singh- the economist vs the politician. However in his second term, MM Singh seems to be faltering at every step and when he speaks, though very little, he looks apologetic and helpless. As a CEO of a country it is important that he speaks and in terms of crisis it is all the more important to 'communicate, communicate, communicate" - over communication is OK and but not the silence he practices. As a result people have dubbed him a puppet, remote controlled, incompetent, helpless, mercy of maipulators, governance deficit, shieldor of the corrupt etc. History would record his second term as a PM as a disaster especially when India could have accelerated its economic growth and scaled new heights. Compare him with his predecessor Vajpayee who in spite of a bigger coalition steered the ship than MM Singh.

Adhyatmaramam Bulusu 13 October 2011 05:06 PM A brilliantly written summary of Dr. Manmohan Singh, the politician. The two comments of a former senior secretary - "------- Manmohan Singh is overestimated economist and an underestimated politician." and "Manmohan Singh is an honest man in a pecuniary sense, but not in the high political-moral sense, as someone who wants to correct wrongs in governance by taking on dishonest people or practices. That's not him. Look at his response on 2G - He says 'I never knew' or ------------- . That fits a pattern, --------------- ". It is more than ample evidence to say "After all, Doctor sahib is neither diffident nor mild nor unambitious; he is no different from any other ambitious politician well versed in the art of real politik. He is very consistent while dealing with the Harshad Mehta scam, nuclear power bill or 2G scam; the politician in him comes out with all the art of real politik and ambition for power. His honesty in the pecuniary sense gives him an excellent cover." Congratulations and thanks for such a revealing study.

Manmeet Singh 13 October 2011 02:53 PM Stectacular article, very well written. I feel sorry for Indians to have a Prime Minister like this and who is so careless and "Majboor". Who says he is not corrupt, I say he is not corrupt but he hides himself from his responsibilities, but get others responsible for what he is not doing. very diplomatic he is.

binjovango 12 October 2011 08:33 AM Brilliant article......vinod ...you done a good job

Robin 11 October 2011 04:38 PM Well written article. A lot of people think they can become a leader by reading books or taking degrees , like our PM. They can—but they're not the ones we'd expect.

AP Keshari 10 October 2011 05:01 PM While this is a well-researched piece, it ends up drawing some wrong conclusions even in the face of evidence to the contrary. At one point, the article actually contradicts itself: After pointing out how Dr Manmohan Singh knew that improprieties were happening (2G) and how he kept saying (or lying?) “I never knew”/“No one told me”, the article still concludes that “..His reputation for honesty may remain intact, but the course of this particular scandal—and a host of others that have transpired under his watch—suggests that honesty alone is an insufficient defence in crises that demand more from leaders..”. Perhaps Caravan (and Mr Jose) ought to have begun by clarifying how they define Honesty. The Berkeley economist Dr Atanu Dey, in his blog, presented a view that held the Doctor sahib to be “despicably dishonest”: http://www.deeshaa.org/2011/02/08/dr-manmohan-singh-is-a-despicably-dishonest-man/ At times this article fails to delve deeper into key issues: for instance, why was Dr Manmohan Singh so reluctant to ‘build an image’ or create his own political identity? Perhaps a closer look at the relationship between The Family and the family Retainer (as The Economist described him) would have yielded additional insights. Finally, at the end of it all, the article still comes across as yet another gratuitous, albeit mild, attempt to try and shield Dr Singh from some serious issues of propriety concerning him. +

Max 7 October 2011 03:39 PM Well researched, nicely written, deliberately "balanced/censored". Inconclusive. Beyond a semi-bio sketch, does Vinod have any opinion? Hope at least he has a complete, clear picture of MMS! Great to see a true academically qualified person on our PM chair. but unfortunately, a waste of such a qualification! he could have continued teaching economics. it is high time to re-define honesty. when do we talk of ethics and responsibility of a citizen? MMS may or may not have pocketed any black rupee, but consider the "intangible personal worth" (including his power, post, fame, growth etc) for which he played deaf, dumb and blind, allowing all that went wrong ( that we know or don't yet, and we may never know). He may started with good intentions, but he consciously allowed his (political) growth to defocus from country's true growth he could have led. Not all the intentions of Sonia directed team has been truly, honestly, sincerely for the good of the country. (well, top corporates and corrupt politicians in white khadi may disagree, for their true gratitude) MMS should be knowing this better than anyone else, but he has looked away from his role and moral responsibility to his country allowing mess to happen. A PM, who does not know what to do in Goa, sleepless working over weekends, for no overtime, has helped as many crooks to thrive under his shadow, let politicians and corporates rob all the tax paying people he is supposed to protect, is denying any knowledge. and we still praise him with all (joyful) tears for his innocence, integrity and honesty. Can anyone ever help us?!!! He can be honest for once, by not telling he "did not know all this happened". - at least now, for there is enough evidence to prove that he knew, he did not act for Indians, and he is equally good at playing "politics".

Narendra Kaushik 5 October 2011 04:58 PM The marathon write up reminds me of a story a friend mailed me sometime back. A young Indian - say X - who was migrating to a foreign country, authorised a friend of his - say Y - through power attorney to look after the house. Y let out the house and would honestly send the rent remuneration to X. He looked after the house till he grew very old. Then his son - Z- took over. Z threw the tenants out and usurped the property. X went to the court. Interestingly, Y deposed in his favour. Z's culpability was proved beyond doubt. But the judge was still in cleft stick on whether he should prosecute Y as well. After all Y was supposed to guard the trust X reposed in him. Same goes for MMS. nicely written piece. kudos!

Harkirat Singh 5 October 2011 03:52 PM Job Well Done!!!

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