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‘Dear Prime Minister … create a new national mood’

Dear Prime Minister,

Once again my congratulations to you on the nuclear deal. It has happened at last. You worked hard and deserve the Congress party’s and nation’s gratitude. But I’m glad you have not allowed yourself to give in to too much self-congratulation. We should keep it that way.

Now let us turn our attention to other matters — immediate and urgent affairs at home. Terror, inflation, floods, ethnic violence.

A few things I wish to make clear.

You are — and will be — the prime ministerial face of the Congress party and of the United Progressive Alliance. I have no confusion on this point; nor should you. Don’t allow yourself to be disturbed by some statements made from time to time by the Veerappa Moilys. You know the culture in this party; sometimes I despair over it.

Rahul need not be a distraction to you. He has all the time in the world to make it to the top job. His time will come.

Let me repeat: you are our prime ministerial candidate.

I was glad to read that you told journalists on your flight back from Paris that you were captain of the team. Please start acting and behaving like one.

Remember how you stood transformed on July 22. As they said on television, “Singh is Kinng.” You stood a notch taller when the NSG voted its waiver in favour of India. After the agreement with the French government, I do not think the Left or the BJP will have a leg to stand on. We waged a political battle and won.

But don’t expect any favours from our political rivals. Remember a general election is within sight. Our rivals will whip things up. But don’t allow yourself to be distracted by their campaign on the nuclear deal. It is time to move on.

I read in the newspapers that you told your colleagues at the last cabinet meeting that you felt embarrassed when you were asked in France about the anti-Christian violence in Orissa and Karnataka. But what do you propose to do about it? I would like to believe that a Prime Minister who is able to hold his own against the world leaders is also capable of putting the entire weight of his government to bring an end to this national shame.

Do what you think needs to be done about the leadership at the Home Ministry. Please do not pass the buck to me. If you think you need a new Home Minister, you have my blessings; if you think you can re-energise the Home Ministry with Shivraj at the helm, you will have my understanding. Pranab can move over to Home if that is what you want; I understand that there is nothing more for him to do at MEA.

But please do understand that we need to tell our citizens — who will be voters in next few months – that we are doing something on the security front. The perception of a helpless government must change. Voters elect a party to power because they believe it will make life easier, more secure for them, protect them from enemies, seen and unseen.

There is not much point in fine dissection of systemic faults and failures. The time for seminars is over. Four-and-a-half years after the UPA government came into being, citizens would like to be reassured that here is a government alive to their sense of insecurity. Citizens couldn’t care less whether things were worse under NDA’s rule; nor do they care if the terrorists were able to get away with their murderous activities under Advaniji’s watch.

It is precisely because of those failures that voters rejected the BJP. They will be prepared to mete out the same treatment to the Congress party — unless you help us shape things up.

It should be obvious to you, as it is to me, that the BJP has outsourced its trouble-making jobs to the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. You can expect them to try to create more and more low-key mischief against minorities between now and the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections.

The sangh parivar is so desperate to get back to power that it will not mind burning down the entire country. Like the jihadis, they understand that violence creates a sense of insecurity, anger, and resentment. And they thrive on this politics of resentment.

It will be up to you to find the imagination and energy to defeat this political conspiracy. It is important not only to finesse your administrative tools. It is equally vital that you speak up against the distortions and dilutions of the secular ideas and practices. Build up a national mood so that the Chief Ministers of Orissa and Karnataka realise they cannot get away with dereliction of duty.

You must send out the message strong and clear: whatever the electoral costs, the Centre will not be found wanting in undertaking its constitutional duties to protect each and every citizen. Our police and intelligence forces must be told firmly and unequivocally that the law must be enforced firmly and fairly. And they must be seen to be doing so in a transparent manner.

Let me move to another area of concern, the economy.

There is a global economic crisis and I read your view that we will be largely insulated from the impact of this America-centric meltdown.

We rely on you to bring to the fore your core competence as an economic administrator in the difficult days ahead. I am afraid your reputation has taken a beating in these last few months as inflationary pressures overwhelmed your advisers and managers. The price rise has totally wiped out the gains of the farm loan waiver in the last budget. That ‘feel-good’ mood stands dissolved.

Today the middle classes, especially the lower middle classes, and poor people live in fear of having their hard-earned gains of the last few years wiped out – either on account of global forces or because of market panic.

We cannot allow a few corporate houses or their internal feuds to overwhelm the economic well being of the nation. I trust you and your team will be able to ensure this. I do not want you to think our party has any favourites among corporate houses.

The real point is that we cannot tell the voters that outsiders are responsible for our economic difficulties. As you so often remark, in times of distress the people take it out on the rulers.

I may be wrong but I have come to the view that winning elections has, quite often, little to do with good governance; still, you can make our work easier.

Galvanise your PMO. Your officers must be told to start acting as a team. Infuse a sense of purpose in them. They must step out of the dugout.

You, Prime Minister, have to create a new national mood. Use the pulpit. Speak out. Move out of Delhi. Let the country hear you. Soak in good vibrations. The time for cultivated reticence is past.

From now on, think and act prime ministerial, engage your team. No Cabinet Minister is going to ignore your advice, leave alone overlook a directive from you.

But above all, you will have to provide us a reason to sell you and your government to the voter.

Allow me to conclude with an expression currently in vogue in America: Yes we can.

Best

Sonia Gandhi

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