The constitutional term of the 15th lok Sabha ends on May 31, 2014. Give or take a few days, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Government now has less than 4-8 weeks to script his swan song before our polity slips into full-blown election mode.
No other Prime Minister since 1947 has had a bigger legacy to protect on his economics. So, it is Manmohan Singh’s last chance to stand up and be counted in a press conference set up for him by his communications advisor Pankaj Pachauri on January 3, 2014.
True to form, a document capturing Singh’s contributions is being readied for that day. But reporters and editors raised on lIVE news don’t read Government-produced encomiums, much less a dhobi list on reforms.
So, safe enough to guess, the spoken word, ‘that one sound byte,’ will rule. It will be sad, therefore, if Singh, his reputation deeply wounded, squanders the opportunity to boost investor sentiment and convince the world that India, via his Government, is open for business till his last day in office.
The PM has been collecting advice on what he should say. He has been listening more than he has said. What’s clear, as ‘clear’ can be with a laconic man like him, is that he won’t quit a day before he must. If resignation is out of the way, what would investors in the India Story want to hear from India’s PMIJ
First, two clear sentences, not twenty, waffling about that he isn’t in the business of a third term in office. Second, that Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party, not he, will decide who the prime ministerial challenger to the formidable Narendra Modi will be. Thereafter, to paraphrase Harvard’s Michael E Porter, the essence of strategy will lie in choosing what not to do.
This might boil down to how Pachauri rotates the questions. An earlier presser, conducted by his predecessor Harish Khare and aired lIVE, was marred by an altercation with a popular news anchor. Another question to him will have to factor that he’s taken a larger than life form eversince!
That said, Pachauri’s juggle is to seem fair to all, yet get it down to one single message which can contradict that Singh’s is a lame-duck Government! The importance of ‘messaging’ can be illustrated from one of Singh’s only two full-blown conferences that I witnessed.
It was February 1, 2006. In Vigyan Bhawan, between some great questions and a fishing expedition, your columnist was fortunate enough to catch the eye of Sanjaya Baru, the moderator.
“Mr Prime Minister, it’s all very well what you have said, but what are you doing to energize the bureaucracyIJ They are the instruments of delivery of the plans you have shared!” I asked, putting myself at the mercy of a source.
The question invited visible derision from my tribesmen for being low-brow – which I confess it was. But, to my eternal relief, the PM was kind. He replied by announcing the VIth Pay Commission! This, not the lofty questions on Pakistan and the US, became the front-page lead of most newspapers next day!
The assumption here is that the PM still has one solid arrow to fire from his quiver – the equivalent of lofting a six over the bowler’s head like he still could on that February evening seven years back.
Clearly, content will be king when we judge the man who co-anchored India’s economic reforms. Will he end Friday looking like a helpless gladiator who sacrificed himself on the altar of loyalty to the Gandhi family who gave him the jobIJ Or will he end it like Jacques Kallis – and in 140 characters at that!
Tail Piece: During UPA-I, two trusted lieutenants clashed over the tone and tenor of a Manmohan Singh speech. One wanted a definite, sardar-like, ‘Yes, We Can,’ flavour. The other thought this might work for Obama, but it would be alien to their boss’s mild manner. You can guess who won!
(The columnist is CEO & Co-Founder, India Strategy Group, Hammurabi & Solomon Consulting. Tweets @therohitbansal)