India's Best Prime Ministers

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

1. Foreign Policy: Vajpayee's foreign policy successes are many. He led India to a victory over Pakistan in 1999 in Kargil and more importantly, the US began to recognize India's position against Pakistan. Relations with China also normalised. He had the guts to go in for a nuclear test and under him, India started it's march of economic prosperity and self-confidence.
2. Economy: The economy stabilised by the time he took over in 1999 and started an unbelievable growth trajectory. He firmly supported disinvestment, but not blind privatisation. As Manmohan Singh said at a recent rally, the economy grew at 5.6% during the Vajpayee tenure, indeed a very impressive growth rate.
3. Home Affairs: This is where the Vajpayee Government had its failures. It failed to check the VHP's protests in 2002 in order to celebrate the demolition of the Babri Masjid. He also failed to take any concrete action against Narendra Modi's Government. You may argue that he upheld democracy by allowing the people to judge - and it thus remains debatable whether you can blame him.
4. Biggest Embarrassment: The Tehelka scandal rocked his ministry and the Coffin scandal involving George Fernandes portrayed his ministry as quite corrupt.
5. Biggest Advantage: He's a 10 time Lok Sabha member and has won the "Best Parliamentarian" award. He took tough decisions which were the need of the hour.

Jawaharlal Nehru

1. Foreign Policy: Jawaharlal Nehru's foreign policy was flawed beyond repair. His Non-Aligned Movement and more importantly, his blind trust of China exploded in his later years. Problems that he created (like Kashmir) haunt India till this day.
2. Economy: The Indian economy under Nehru was rebuilding itself. The foundations laid by Nehru were strong enough to sustain India through a lot of dangerous periods. Food security also improved vastly and industrial growth also remained consistent.
3. Home Affairs: Democracy took deep roots under Nehru. All institution of independent and democratic India (the courts, the army, and the police) were set up and remain strong till this day. If India has survived till this day, a lot of credit goes to Nehru for letting democracy take off in India.
4. Biggest Embarrassment: The defeat to China will remain forever to portray Nehru's later years as weak and incompetent.
5. Biggest Success: DEMOCRACY!!

Manmohan Singh

1. Foreign Policy: His single biggest foreign policy success remains the Indo-US Nuclear Deal.
2. Economy: The biggest challenge for the Indian economy ever took place in his tenure. The economy still maintained a 6-7% growth rate and never went into recession. Two stimuli packages were announced and a slew of other measures taken. Though the Left clipped his wings, he still managed to bring stability to the economy.
3. Home Affairs: Terrorism marked his tenure. The rapidity of attacks increased. Thrice in Delhi, twice in Mumbai - and the Government failed to take any measures. It reached a peak in 2008, only after which the Government removed the Home Minister. It is noticeable that since P Chidambaram took over, only 1 terrorist attack took place.
4. Biggest Embarrassment: The presence of inefficient and often corrupt ministers like Shibu Soren in his cabinet and the ruckus created during the trust vote marred his credentials.
5. Biggest Advantage: A clean image remains his USP. He's slowly being recognized as a man of clean politics and strong convictions.

Indira Gandhi

1. Foreign Policy: Indira Gandhi scores highest on foreign policy. She led India to a victory over Pakistan in 1971 and captured 1 lakh Prisoners of War. She presided over India's first nuclear explosion and stood tall before Nixon. She withstood US ire and still managed to reinstill the sense of national pride. It should be noted that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the one who called her "Durga" after the Bangladesh liberation.
2. Economy: The economy was a problem during most of Indira Gandhi's tenure. She began with a huge economic crisis and the country went through cycles of deflation and inflation. However, the green revolution that she presided over has ensured India's food security till date.
3. Home Affairs: Indira Gandhi could have been on top of the list just that I am not comfortable with the idea of putting on top a person who didn't believe full-heartedly in democracy. A Prime Minister has got to respect democracy. But declaring Emergency and by turning the Congress into a sycophants' club, Indira Gandhi left a very bad legacy for democracy in India.
4. Biggest Embarrassment: The emergency and Operation Blue Star will continue to define her. She almost succeeded in hurling Indian democracy down the drain.
5. Biggest Advantage: She seems to have been destiny's child. Despite the emergency, she remained so popular with the masses.

UPA v.2.0

After coming back to power with a resounding victory, one would have expected Manmohan Singh to display signs of control and talk about a reformist and a socialist agenda for his new government. Disappointingly, we miss the flashes of brilliance and the astute political mind which he displayed during the Confidence motion brought in Parliament over the passage of the Nuclear Deal. It was then that I felt the PM was not “weak”. Manmohan Singh had such strong convictions about the N-Deal and its benefits for the country that he decided to put his chair to stake. How could a PM who staked his chair because of his strong convictions be considered weak? The only thing was that he and his policies had a human touch which India had missed sorely during the previous governments (without any disrespect to Mr. Vajpayee, the contemporary politician I admire the most).

But his second stint hasn’t been as rewarding as his first. Among the many gaffes committed by him and the PMO are the Baluchistan fiasco and the end-user agreement signed with the US. The PM while catering to Pakistani counterpart has gone on record to say that India and Pakistan are the common victims of the same type of terrorism. A totally unfounded statement. While we suffer terrorism originating from across the border, Pakistan is suffering their own making. The PM has only vindicated Pakistan. Next time there’s a terrorist attack on Indian soil, Pakistan can simply wash its hands off the issue by saying both the countries are the victims of terrorism.

The mention of Baluchistan in the joint declaration with Pakistan is another fiasco that had the foreign policy think-tank and the Parliament demanding and explanation in chorus. The situation came to such a pass that the outgoing foreign secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon had to give a clarification in the Lok Sabha. He termed it as a drafting error. It’s to be seen how much this drafting error costs India in the international forum in the long run. Then there’s a delinking of terrorist activities and the peace process initiated between the two countries. This is exactly opposite to the stand that the PM had taken when he met the Pakistani president, Asif Ali Zardari and snubbed him in public. The change in stance is reportedly being ascribed to US pressure. And the PM is supposed to have bowed down to that pressure. The issue of the end-user agreement for military equipments signed during Hillary Clinton’s visit caused a lot of noise in the Parliament. Then there’s the bad handling of the Shopian rape case in Kashmir which has only allowed separatists to become stronger. If nothing else, the demand for “aazadi” was clearly audible during the entire drama. The economic recession has only added salt to the wounds of the already beleaguered PM.

It’s not to say that UPA version 2.0 is a failure. There has been progress on a host of issues. But a lot of expectations were attached with this government – especially when it became clear that the government was not in pressure to cater to the demands of its allies but was free to pursue its own will. It’s to be seen whether Manmohan Singh can stand on the pedestal and fulfill the needs and aspirations of the teeming millions. Till then, let’s keep our fingers crossed.