Pitamah, But No Ratna

Manmohan Singh seems to have realized, after dealing with unyielding fair-weather collation political partners and having to deal with an aggressive Narendra Modi, that live was better when former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was leading BJP. After dissing and shutting out Vajpayee and Advani soon after coming to power in 2004, unlike his predecessor who conferred with Sonia, as leader of opposition, and Manmohan Singh, as senior leader and leader of Rajya Sabha, on most foreign policy and security related issues, Manmohan Singh and Congress I is coming around. Their brothers in left-wing politics, communists of all colours, have taken them for a ride for the past four years essentially allowing nothing to happen on major economic or security policy fronts other than increasing subsidies and creating more deficit inducing and corruption enhancing welfare schemes and living of off NDA era economic policies that came to fruition in the past few years after NDA left office.

Compared to what NDA era, under Vajpayee, achieved, UPA, under Manmohan/Sonia, has nothing to show for. And their term is almost ending with big whimper. Manmohan seems to have realized that and seems to have a new found respect for Vajpayee.

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“The Bhishma Pitamah of Indian politics Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee should listen to his conscience and let national interest prevail upon narrow politics,” Dr. Singh said in the Rajya Sabha [The Hindu]

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But don't ask for a Bharat Ratna for the pitamah.