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Congress dumps Manmohan Singh

Senior Congress leader and former Union finance minister Dr Manmohan Singh is likely to be excluded from the party economic reforms introspection group meeting on Thursday, indicating the party leadership's efforts to distance itself from his liberalised policies.

"There are many problems in our party. Sonia Gandhi has just been re-elected party chief and she is determined to retrieve the party's pro-poor image. That could explain why Singh may not participate in Thursday's economic reforms introspection group meeting because of his liberal outlook," a party spokesman told rediff.com.

"I don't know whether Singh is participating. But he has been consulted," said party spokesman Prithviraj Chavan.

Significantly, Singh had been excluded from a recent economic reforms group meeting too. Singh had refused to comment on his exclusion.

" If Singh attends the Thursday meeting, the party spokesman would know about it, " said former party parliamentarian Harish Rawat. He, however, contended that it was of paramount importance for the party to get back its pro-poor image and that Singh's presence may not be desirable considering he was a votary of a liberalised economy.

According to party sources, what has convinced the party leadership (read Sonia Gandhi) to distance itself from Singh's liberal economic outlook was his objection in the Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session to a proposal to reduce subsidies on essential commodities.

This triggered off criticism that Singh was allegedly a protagonist of measures favoured by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and it was out of sync for the necessities of the Indian economy.

"Our party chief is keen to dispel illusions that the Congress only wants a western-style economic growth which emphasises on the globalisation of the economy. She is keen that the human factor in economic development should not be forgotten," Congress parliamentarian Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury pointed out. He, however, preferred not to comment on Singh.

Criticism against the Congress in recent times in the media, particularly against Sonia, has raised hackles in the party. The recent challenge by senior Congress leader Jitendra Prasada to Sonia, attacking her policies, is a case in point.

Prasada, who was defeated in the Congress presidential polls by Sonia, had alleged that among her many failings was the party's economic policies, which reeked of being anti-poor.

Significantly, Prasada had held rallies in Uttar Pradesh with the late party leader Rajesh Pilot and the latter had lashed out against the party's economic policies, virtually labelling them as programmes followed by developed countries.

Soon after the rallies in UP, the Congress leadership began talking about the need for a pro-poor outlook in economic policies. Singh became a focal point of many Congress members' disenchantment with a liberalised economy and thus began a whispering campaign against the former Union finance minister.

Chavan's assertion that Singh has been consulted on Thursday's meeting appears to be the leadership's unambiguous attempt to distance itself from a senior partyman who is perceived by many as a staunch protagonist of a liberalised economy.

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