I don’t want any credit for myself… When angry Lal Manmohan Singh reprimanded Baru, know the Rahul Gandhi connection

New Delhi : As soon as the name of former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is mentioned, a gentle, patient and serious image automatically starts appearing before the eyes. A personality who has never been seen angry in public. But once he/she got very angry. he/she was red with anger. Sanjay Baru has told this incident in his/her book ‘The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh’. he/she was his/her media advisor. The special thing is that Manmohan Singh was also angry at Baru. Fuming in anger, he/she said that he/she did not want any credit for himself. At the center of this anger was the situation that arose after Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Manmohan Singh. Let us know what the whole incident was.

Manmohan Singh was a saint of politics
Manmohan Singh, the father of economic reforms in India, is no more. he/she became Prime Minister by chance. he/she was not a strong politician. It would not be an exaggeration if he/she was called the saint of politics. While being Prime Minister, he/she never tried to take credit for his/her achievements. It is a coincidence that the poison of failures came to his/her share during UPA-2. The government does not take credit for its achievements and its failures. Baru has mentioned one such incident in his/her book. Whenever the achievements of Manmohan Singh government are mentioned, the name of MGNREGA will definitely come up. But Congress tried to give full credit for this to the Gandhi family.

When Rahul Gandhi met PM Manmohan
Sanjay Baru writes in his/her book, ‘The Congress Party’s obsession with giving full credit for MGNREGA to the Gandhi family has reached a point where it may have actually embarrassed the family itself. When I tried to correct that perception, I found myself in trouble. Shortly after he/she was appointed one of the party’s general secretaries on September 26, 2007, Rahul Gandhi led a delegation of all party general secretaries to congratulate Dr. Singh on his/her birthday. After the etiquette and tea and dhokla were over, the delegation sat down to discuss policy issues. At the end of the meeting, Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel handed me a statement about the meeting requesting it to be released to the press.

Ahmed Patel wanted to get a statement from PMO quoting Rahul
Baru further writes, ‘The statement claimed that Rahul Gandhi had asked the PM to expand the scope of NREGA (before it was named after Mahatma Gandhi and later became MGNREGA) to all 500 rural districts of the country. Had requested. Till then, it was being implemented only in the 200 most backward districts. I told Patel that it was not customary for the PMO to issue press statements on behalf of those who met the Prime Minister, and that I would prepare a statement of my own saying that a delegation of party general secretaries led by Rahul had come. To wish the PM on his/her birthday. As far as the political content of the statement is concerned, my suggestion was that it would be better if it came in a separate statement from the party office.

Attempt to give full credit of MNREGA to Gandhi family
Sanjay Baru writes, ‘Later that evening, a senior political journalist (then) of the Indian Express wanted to know from me whether Dr. Singh had accepted Rahul’s suggestion and whether NREGA would now be expanded to the entire country. . I reminded him/her that the Prime Minister had already expressed his/her commitment to do so in his/her Independence Day speech last month, and the PMO was discussing the same issue with the Ministries of Rural Development and Finance.’

Baru further writes, ‘That evening all TV channels dutifully reported the Congress Party’s statement that Rahul had asked the PM to expand NREGA to the entire country, and the next morning’s newspapers did the same. Only the Indian Express further commented the next day that ‘Sources said the issue was on the PMO’s radar even before Rahul was promoted to the party post. The Principal Secretary to the PM had already discussed this issue with officials of the Finance Ministry, Rural Development Ministry and Planning Commission about two weeks ago.

Baru’s SMS to the journalist proved costly
Baru SMSed a journalist that Prime Minister Manmohan has given his/her birthday gift to the country by deciding to implement NREGA in the entire country. But this matter got so serious that he/she got into trouble. Baru writes, ‘When I sent an SMS to a journalist who wanted to know more about the program’s national implementation, saying that this announcement was the PM’s birthday gift to the country, I ran into trouble. After all, if Sonia or Rahul had been PM, party strategists would have approached such an announcement on a leader’s birthday in exactly the same manner. It was later revealed that this SMS had circulated and had reached the party leadership.

When a big Congress leader had said- Rahul Gandhi can make us win the elections, not Manmohan
Baru writes, ‘A senior leader said to a senior editor, ‘What does Baru think? he/she thinks that Doctor Saheb (Dr. Manmohan Singh) can win us the elections? We have to project Rahulji’s image and this kind of SMS does not help. When I heard this, I knew I was in trouble. Certainly the PM had called me to reprimand me. As I entered his/her room, Nair, Narayanan and Pulak were coming out. Seeing as all three avoided eye contact with me, I realized this was going to be serious. When I went inside, Dr. Singh was sitting with folded hands and looking angrily.

Manmohan Singh was angry at Baru
Baru has written the incident after this in his/her book like this-

Manmohan Singh- ‘Did you send an SMS to the journalists that the expansion of NREGA is my birthday gift?’

Sanjay Baru- I did, but half jokingly. The PM remained sitting in silence. I broke the silence by saying, ‘The party wants to give full credit for this decision to Rahul. But both you and Raghuvansh Prasad deserve equal credit.

‘I don’t want any credit for myself,’ he/she (Manmohan Singh) snapped. he/she was still red with anger.

Baru- ‘Sir, it is my job to project your image and secure the political credit you get. Let the party do this for Sonia and Rahul. I have to do this for you.’

Manmohan- ‘No!’ he/she said quickly again. ‘I don’t want you to project my image.’