NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee seem to have endorsed rating agency Standard & Poor's sharply critical analysis that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unable to influence Cabinet colleagues and is a waning force.
The shock inclusion of Singh in a list of presidential probables put forward by Mamata and Mulayam stirred political circles, setting off talk of the allies having delivered a rude jolt to the PM who only recently said he was comfortable in his current assignment.
Singh's name is not likely to be taken seriously by the Congress, while SP and Trinamool may also have tossed the PM's candidature as part of high-pressure bargaining over a presidential nominee, but the unmistakable impression is that Mamata and Mulayam have treated him with a touch of disdain.
For one, speculation on Singh "moving on" to Rashtrapati Bhawan has been swirling for months, driven first by the perception that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi may step in. With the UP assembly results seen as a setback for Rahul, the talk died only to be revived when a deepening policy paralysis began to worry the Congress leadership.
The Congress leadership might be wearied by the glacial pace of decision-making but does not have clear choices about who could take over. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is a de-facto number two, but if Congress is uncertain about considering him as president, it can hardly be confident about handing the premiership to him.
PMO did not react to the developments, with sources pointing to agency reports that "senior" Congress leaders ruled out a change of PM. On Wednesday evening, Congress was still figuring out the SP-Trinamool gambit but the party can hardly go with a public suggestion that the PM be shunted to Rashtrapati Bhawan.
What has been brought into the open has been murmured for some time now: the PM's best phase in office might be behind him with concern mounting whether Singh can find the motivation and energy to wade against the odds as political challenges mount and there is an urgent need to attend to a slowing economy.
After having been hailed abroad for his leadership and understanding of the political economy for several tears, comment has turned less flattering in recent times. The economist described him as lame duck and more recently as a leader with little clout. S & P seems to have articulated what Delhi's power circles have been mulling for some time.
Some leaders who met the PM recently felt Singh is feeling weighed down by the political situation, while others who have interacted with him found him to be fairly business-like. On Wednesday, for example, he held a detailed meeting of the nuclear command authority and there has been no let up in meetings and briefings.
Yet, some Cabinet ministers point to increasing conflicts the government has been drawn in: whether it is the needless confrontation with IITs over entrance exams, the differences between the oil minister and Reliance on KG basin gas, the ugliness over the Army chief's age dispute or a prolonged showdown with states over the powers of a National Counter Terrorism Centre.
There is considerable unhappiness in the ruling coalition over Mukherjee's handling of the economy, but Singh would have to share some of the burden. Mukherjee tends to treat the finance ministry as his fief - in contrast with his predecessor P Chidambaram who would defer to the PM on major issues if it was required.
Singh's reticence has not helped as the only occasion that he opens his mind is while travelling abroad. The reticence troubles the party leadership as the government's articulation is restricted to a group of ministers on media who do all the talking.
Congress insiders have often bemoaned that Singh has never really lacked authority for all the discussion on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi holding the levers of the UPA. She, they say, has not acted as a brake giving him a free hand in framing policy. Singh's might be a case of not exercising enough power when he ought to have.
The shock inclusion of Singh in a list of presidential probables put forward by Mamata and Mulayam stirred political circles, setting off talk of the allies having delivered a rude jolt to the PM who only recently said he was comfortable in his current assignment.
Singh's name is not likely to be taken seriously by the Congress, while SP and Trinamool may also have tossed the PM's candidature as part of high-pressure bargaining over a presidential nominee, but the unmistakable impression is that Mamata and Mulayam have treated him with a touch of disdain.
For one, speculation on Singh "moving on" to Rashtrapati Bhawan has been swirling for months, driven first by the perception that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi may step in. With the UP assembly results seen as a setback for Rahul, the talk died only to be revived when a deepening policy paralysis began to worry the Congress leadership.
The Congress leadership might be wearied by the glacial pace of decision-making but does not have clear choices about who could take over. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is a de-facto number two, but if Congress is uncertain about considering him as president, it can hardly be confident about handing the premiership to him.
PMO did not react to the developments, with sources pointing to agency reports that "senior" Congress leaders ruled out a change of PM. On Wednesday evening, Congress was still figuring out the SP-Trinamool gambit but the party can hardly go with a public suggestion that the PM be shunted to Rashtrapati Bhawan.
What has been brought into the open has been murmured for some time now: the PM's best phase in office might be behind him with concern mounting whether Singh can find the motivation and energy to wade against the odds as political challenges mount and there is an urgent need to attend to a slowing economy.
After having been hailed abroad for his leadership and understanding of the political economy for several tears, comment has turned less flattering in recent times. The economist described him as lame duck and more recently as a leader with little clout. S & P seems to have articulated what Delhi's power circles have been mulling for some time.
Some leaders who met the PM recently felt Singh is feeling weighed down by the political situation, while others who have interacted with him found him to be fairly business-like. On Wednesday, for example, he held a detailed meeting of the nuclear command authority and there has been no let up in meetings and briefings.
Yet, some Cabinet ministers point to increasing conflicts the government has been drawn in: whether it is the needless confrontation with IITs over entrance exams, the differences between the oil minister and Reliance on KG basin gas, the ugliness over the Army chief's age dispute or a prolonged showdown with states over the powers of a National Counter Terrorism Centre.
There is considerable unhappiness in the ruling coalition over Mukherjee's handling of the economy, but Singh would have to share some of the burden. Mukherjee tends to treat the finance ministry as his fief - in contrast with his predecessor P Chidambaram who would defer to the PM on major issues if it was required.
Singh's reticence has not helped as the only occasion that he opens his mind is while travelling abroad. The reticence troubles the party leadership as the government's articulation is restricted to a group of ministers on media who do all the talking.
Congress insiders have often bemoaned that Singh has never really lacked authority for all the discussion on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi holding the levers of the UPA. She, they say, has not acted as a brake giving him a free hand in framing policy. Singh's might be a case of not exercising enough power when he ought to have.
-TOI
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