By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy yesterday sought to play down allegations made against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by his former aide Sanjaya Baru and said he was “most respected and dignified person” of Indian politics.
Chandy also thanked the prime minister for the generous assistance he extended to the state during the last ten years in power.
“In a democracy, everybody has the right to express their views. But you have to be cautious about your boundaries (of propriety),” the chief minister told reporters here.
“Dr Singh is the most respected and dignified personality in Indian politics.”
The former media adviser's book The Accidental Prime Minister suggests that Singh's authority was undermined by his own Congress Party and led to a drift in governance and that “he was defanged bit by bit.”
“These are baseless allegations and their real intention would be exposed in the coming days,” said Chandy, who is generally seen as the party’s most popular chief minister.
He also rubbished the suggestions against senior ministers from Kerala, Defence Minister A K Antony, and Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, that they were responsible for the policy paralysis and resultant economic slowdown.
"Though he (Singh) came from an entirely different field, he could establish himself as a popular politician and he excelled in both roles,” Chandy said.
“The real intention of Baru will be exposed when the elections are over.”
Baru’s book suggests that the Prime Minister's Office did not call the shots when it came to major decision-making, but 10 Janpath, the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, did.
While claims made in Baru's book are being used by the opposition to allege that the PMO's authority was undermined by Gandhi, the author has also come under attack from the Congress for sensationalising the book to market it.
The chief minister said Singh's tenure was a "golden period" for Kerala in particular as he took personal initiatives in the development projects here. It was only because of the prime minister’s intervention that Malayalam received the classical language status after an expert panel turned down the state’s appeal.
“During these 10 years, he cleared projects worth Rs700bn in Kerala. We had never received such a consideration under any administration before that,” Chandy said.
“He gave us whatever we asked.”
Chandy became chief minister for the first time in 2004 when he replaced veteran colleague Antony following the 2004 Lok Sabha election debacle in Kerala and a few months after Singh assumed office as prime minister for the first time.
