Manmohan Singh Vs L.K. Advani

Manmohan Singh Vs L.K. Advani

With the 15th Lok Sabha elections kicking off on April 16th, the race for the Prime Minister has essentially boiled down to Manmohan Singh vs Lal Krishna Adavni. The rise of third front may have given Ms. Maywati some hopes, but chances of her becoming the PM of India are really miniscule. A lot of confusion was created (mostly by the media) over Rahul Gandhi's candidature for the coveted post, but now it's crystal clear that Manmohan Singh will be the PM if UPA comes back to power. Sharad Pawar also tried to set-off some alarms by making his penchant for the 'Chair' public, but he himself knows that with 25-30 MPs of NCP he can't dream of becoming the Prime Minister of a billion people nation.

Congress took a very smart move by projecting MMS as the PM for 3 reasons - first-off all the accomplishments of the current government are under the leadership of MMS and so it makes complete sense to make him the lead face of the campaign, secondly he is one the most respected and taintless politicans in the Indian politics now, and thirdly this decision has caught the opposition off-guard (as they were not sure who the PM's candidate will be till the last moment) and will compel them to re-think their strategies at a very crucial time of elections.

Elections 2009 are indeed going to be very interesting - we have two prime ministerial candidates who have impressive experience of public service behind them, who belong to two completely different school of ideologies (Congress & BJP) and more often than ever we have the full 5 year performance of both the governments to compare.

So, who does India think will be the appropriate person for this job? On one hand we have Manmohan Singh representing UPA (Congress) who has shown in the past 5 years that he has the will and determination to take India to new heights by his pro-economic policies and reforms. He has relentlessly pursued the issues of national interest and progress by signing the Indo-US nuclear deal even if it was opposed by his own allies and party members. Manmohan Singh has exhibited exceptional fortitude and political acumen in dealing with terrorism related issues with our neighbor. He has implemented various rural and fiscal reforms such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and rationalizing the tax system to name a few. The decisions of his government are taken at 7, Race Course Road and not at 10, Janpath, despite what the critics say.

On the other hand we have L.K. Advani, who no doubts has greater political acumen and experience than Mammohan Singh. L.K. Advani has been nurturing the dream to become the PM of India since a long long time and has left no stone unturned to turn it into a reality. But, does he has the willingness to serve India? MMS wants India to vote for him because he thinks he has done a decent job as the PM in last 5 years, while Advani wants India to vote for him because he thinks that MMS is not suitable for the post. He keeps lashing at MMS for his incompetence in taking decisions, his softer stance on terrorism, and a freshly (and legitimate) brewed argument of MMS not contesting LS polls. But, wasn't even former PM A.B. Vajpayee alleged to be work under the control of RSS. The most prominent role Adavni has played was may be in the demolition of Babri Masjid and it was during NDA's tenure when the 2002 Gujarat riots took place, and terrorists attacked the Parilament, Red Fort, Akshardham temple, Kashmir State Assembly, and were even ESCORTED by our then Minister of External Affairs minister to Kandhar.

India is an ever maturing & growing democracy and it's time that politicians make the elections a healthier excerise and not a road-side circus. The candidates running for such an honorary and responsible postion must make arguments and counter-arguments which are issue-oriented, are of national interest, and based on facts, and not which invloves maligning each other personally. It's time that the media should do a careful and responsible analysis of the political parties, its candidates, and their manifestos, rather than showing some sensational inconsequentional 'shoe hurling' news. The media should feed the Indian Junta with factual and not sensational news and help them in reaching a decision rather than making them more confused.

India needs a leader who banks upon his achievements in national progress, public welfare, and improved infrastructure, to win and not on the flaws of the opposition candidates. We need a leader who backs himself for the dignified post of Prime Minister with his accomplishments and NOT the one who wants India to elect him because he thinks that the other candidate is weak. We want a leader with secular approach and who thinks about national unity and integrity.

With Dr. Singh brimming with confidence and riding on a good 5 year term and Advani probably making his last attempt to become the Prime Minister of India, the LS Elections 2009 are certainly going to keep everyone on the edge of their seats.

Jaago India!!

- Kartavya Jain