Sir — The Press conference addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a leader who neither enthuses nor motivates, has been on expected lines, but with the difference that he has announced his retirement. It has been known for a couple of years now that Mr Singh would make way for Mr Rahul Gandhi sooner than later.
But he has not resigned despite the Congress facing massive defeats in the recently held Assembly elections. These losses were largely because the Government he leads has built itself a terrible image. Of course, it is also true that the real face of the party and even the Government has never been Mr Singh but the Nehru-Gandhi clan, and it must take the blame for the defeats. But Mr Singh, who has no political base, makes for a good scapegoat.
On the issue of corruption, the way the Congress has been shielding its leaders in the Adarsh scam shows that it is not serious about rooting out graft in public life. It boasts of having brought in the lokpal Bill, but that is Parliament’s and the people’s victory, and not the Congress’s. The Congress, on the one hand, talks of the lokpal Bill, but on the other, shields a Chief Minister against whom there are serious graft allegations, and hopes to strike a deal with another leader who has been convicted on corruption charges.