PM meets editors, talks Rahul, Cabinet reshuffle, and Lokpal

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New Delhi, June 29, 2011: In a two-hour meeting with five editors, the Prime Minister has finally explained his stand on some of the country’s critical current affairs: corruption, the Lokpal Bill which is meant to combat that corruption, and the allegation that his government is often at odds with his own party.

Kumar Ketkar, one of the editors at the meeting which was held at the PM’s residence, said Dr Manmohan Singh came across as "totally relaxed, confident and jovial" as he answered some very exacting questions. "All of us were surprised...he was extremely confident even with very embarrassing questions...all the editors knew we could not afford to be non-confrontationist," said Mr Ketkar.

Today’s session is meant to launch a series of interactions with the press.  Mr Ketkar said that the PM explained that he was  "disconcerted" by continuing criticism of his unavailability to the media.  Dr Singh said he wanted to end allegations - some of them raised by the Opposition - that his silence indicates that he is not in control of his government during a period when it’s tackling a slate of corruption scandals and worrying inflation.  

Dr Singh dismissed allegations that he is a lameduck Prime Minister as "clever propaganda" by the Opposition.  He said reports that suggest his government is often undermined by the Congress and Sonia Gandhi are untrue. He said Mrs Gandhi and he meet regularly with senior ministers to discuss government policy. He praised Mrs Gandhi for offering him "maximum cooperation" and said she has done "a superb job" as Congress President.

When asked about the much-anticipated Cabinet reshuffle, which is expected to get rid of under-performing ministers, the PM said the exercise is  "a work in progress" but refused to indicate when it would take place.  When asked about recent comments by some of his party leaders that Rahul Gandhi is ready to be PM, Dr Singh said that he doesn’t mind handing over leadership to younger person, "but the question has not been put on the agenda or raised by the party."

Dr Manmohan Singh was highly critical of the media, accusing it of acting as "accuser, prosecutor and judge."

He discussed at length the Lokpal Bill which has headlined India’s summer.  The Bill, which is meant to check corruption within politicians and bureaucrats, was being drafted for the first time by a committee that included non-elected activists like Gandhian Anna Hazare.  The joint effort between the government and these activists ended in chaos - ministers on the committee have delivered one draft of the Bill, Team Anna has prepared another. Their irreconcilable differences are topped by whether the Lokpal Bill should apply to the Prime Minister’s Office. "I have no hesitation in bringing myself under the purview of Lokpal but many of my Cabinet colleagues feel that bringing the institution of Prime Minister under it will create instability," Dr Singh told the editors.

An all-party meeting on July 3 will discuss the draft for the Lokpal Bill.  Mr Hazare’s team says their draft in its entirety cannot be excluded from this discussion. "The government will reach out to civil society but no group can insist that their views are the last word," said the PM today.

Courtesy; NDTV