For, He's A Savvy Man

In Jharkhand, Dr Singh tripped up (by design, or accident?) because that was by no means a borderline case; happily, he swiftly corrected course. On the Modi visa denial issue, however, the PM did not put a foot wrong, although there are some in his own party who believe he should have personally kept silent and allowed the foreign office to register a routine, possibly mild, protest. I am not privy to Dr Singh's mind but according to me his personal intervention was tactically brilliant and constitutionally impeccable. One can expect a person of Dr Singh's background to uphold constitutional niceties, but tactics? We were told he didn't know the word.

By skilfully intervening personally, the PM removed the Congress from the BJP's line of fire since the government at the highest level was publicly perceived to be acting in a non-partisan manner. If the PM had not personally intervened, Messrs Advani, Modi and Jaitley would have mounted scores of furious agitations in which the target would not have been President George Bush but Sonia Gandhi and the Congress. Instead, Dr Singh ensured that the BJP was placed on a collision course with its nearest, dearest and closest ideological buddy, the United States. I am not surprised that soon after the second rejection by the State Department, the BJP's anger came to an abrupt halt. Full marks then to the prime minister for demonstrating rare political savvy.