DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ● MANMOHAN SINGH: 1932-2024 ● Dr Singh walks into history HIS REFORMS ROADMAP POLITICAL LEGACY He opened India to the world, set stage for seat at global high table Foundation of New India to be set, he said before 1991 Budget As PM, ended India’s nuclear winter; graft shadow clouded second term Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao with Manmohan Singh at a Planning Commission meeting in July 1993. Archive investment in government oil companies. Shankaranand describedtheseas‘temples’builtby (Jawaharlal) Nehru. Manmohan Singh ticked me off. “Nandu, don’t be so impaMANMOHAN SINGH was an tient, please recognise that goveconomist with spectacular do- ernments must survive to remainexpertise,butas form,” he said. He Finance Minister in was SPECIAL TO sciousdeeply conPV Narasimha Rao’s of the limits of Cabinet, he was the political econdeeply conscious of omy of change, of the limits of India’s consensus being necpolitical economy of change. essary for political stability. He When he was the FM, I went taught me to be patient with the along with him for a meeting tardy pace of reforms. with Petroleum Minister B But he was audacious too. He Shankaranand.Iwasquitedisap- rode on the strength of ecopointed when he spurned nomicreformswhenhebecame Singh’spersuasioneffortstodisCONTINUED ON PAGE 2 By N K Singh Former PM Manmohan Singh with Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi . Prem Nath Pandey MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 26 MANMOHAN SINGH, the architect of opening India’s economy to the world that lifted a record number out of poverty and set the stage for the nation to secure a seat at the global high table, died in New Delhi Thursday night. He was 92. The former Prime Minister is survived by his wife Gursharan Kaur and three daughters. His passing was announced by the AIIMSwhich,inabulletin,stated that he was brought to Emergency at 8.06 pm after “sudden loss of consciousness at home”. It said despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9.51 pm. AsPrimeMinisterfrom2004 to 2014, Singh broke the country’slongnuclearwinter,steered itsuccessfullythroughtheglobal financial crisis and marked a place for the country in the new world order. An unlikely politician, the scholarly,soft-spokenacademicpolitician — born in Gah in what is today Pakistan, his family migrated to India during Partition; he was an alumnus of both Oxford and Cambridge universi- BUSINESS AS USUAL ENDED LICENCE PERMIT RAJ ties—believedintheimportance ofthefreemarketandatthesame time redefined the role of the welfare state when he was PM. Under him, the UPA government,inits10yearsattheCentre, ushered in a second wave of financial reforms and unveiled a raft of welfare measures, breaking the long held belief that economicreformsandsocialwelfare cannot go hand in hand. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 FULL COVERAGE ‘HISTORY WILL BE KINDER TO ME’ MANMOHANOMICS: INFLATION FOCUS TO BANKING REFORMS JUNE 2004 TO MAY 2014 PAGES 10, 11, 12, 13 Gujarat CM: He made important contribution to development of the country EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE AHMEDABAD,DECEMBER26 GUJARAT CHIEF Minister Bhupendra Patel expressed grief at the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said he had made a major contributiontothedevelopmentof the nation. In a post on X, Patel said the passingof “renownedeconomist DrManmohanSinghisextremely saddening”. “Whiledischargingseveralresponsibilities,hemadeanimportant contribution to the developmentofthecountry,”saidtheCM. Patel prayed for peace “for this soul and strength to the family to come to terms with the grief”. THEEXPRESS BY UNNY Truth hurts, he said, when asked why he didn’t write memoir SHAJI VIKRAMAN CHENNAI, DECEMBER 26 Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at an event in New Delhi in October 2019. Anil Sharma President, PM, LoP lead nation paying tribute, seven-day mourning for Singh EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 26 PRESIDENT DROUPADI Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in paying rich tribute to former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who died Thursday night. Cutting across parties, leader after leader described Singh’s passing as a loss to the nation, hailing him as one of its most distinguished leaders. Officials said the Union governmenthasdeclaredaseven-day mourningforSinghandcancelled all government programmes scheduled for Friday. TheCabinet,officialssaid,will meetat11amFridaytopaytribute toSingh.Hislastriteswillbeconducted with full state honours. President Murmu said Singh was“oneof thoserarepoliticians whoalsostraddledtheworldsof academia and administration with equal ease”. “In his various roles in public offices, he made critical contributions to reforming the Indian economy. He will CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INSIDE THE ‘ACCIDENTAL PM’ WHO PROVED THAT HE WAS NO ACCIDENT PAGE 12 INEARLY2016,afewmonthsbefore the country marked 25 years of its famous economic reforms, one of the key architects of liberalisation and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shed a bit of his usual reticence at the end of a session at his New Delhi home. Asked by this reporter, why he chose not to write a memoir, considering that he had held top jobs in the country — chief economic advisor, economic affairs secretary, RBI Governor, Planning Commission deputy chairman, Finance Minister, and then head of the government — his response was: “The truth hurts. AndIdon'twanttohurtanyone.” If at all anyone got close to PM Narendra Modi with former PM Manmohan Singh in 2017. PTI file getting him to open up a bit on his life, it was his daugher Daman Singh, who wrote about her parents in Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan. As CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Happy Birthday on plane; defer interview ‘for the time being’ RITU SARIN NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 26 FOR MONTHS now, Dr ManmohanSingh’sfailinghealthand the need for him to rest was a refrain among his staff when they regretted scheduling any meeting or interview. ButtheformerPrimeMinister himselfwasmeticulousaboutreplying to all requests on e-mail. Inonesuchreplythisyear,he wrote to this reporter: “I regret becauseof myill-healthIwillnot be able to record an interview, for the time being.” “For the time being,” it held out hope – and promise. That was Singh, generous not only for the time being but for ever. In the nation’s capital where leaders have little patience – or the need – to worry about who’s being rubbed the wrong way, Singh was an exception. Indeed, days before G-20 when many in his party mocked the “show,” in an interview to The Indian Express, Singh, gentlyyetfirmly,underlinedthesignificance of the moment. In the wake of the RussiaUkraine war, he said, India has a “pivotalrole”in“steering”thenew world order and has “done the rightthinginputtingitssovereign andeconomicinterestsfirstwhile also appealing for peace.” Singh said that he was “more optimistic about India’s future than worried,” but that optimismis“contingentonIndiabeing a harmonious society.” This natural inclination for the nuance wasn’t just an expression of humility – it was the hallmark of a leadership with depth and breadth. I remember the afternoon of May 22, 2004, when his name The vehicle carrying his body outside AIIMS, in New Delhi on Thursday night. Gajendra Yadav was announced by the Congress party for Prime Ministership. Securitywasbeingstrengthened outside his residence but having persuaded his wife Gursharan Kaur to give The Indian Express an interview, we got some time with him. “I will need every- body’s help for the task ahead,” he said, his hands folded. Gursharan Kaur shared some picturesfromtheirfamilyalbum. The next day, Manmohan Singhtookchargeof whatwould betwofulltermsof ahistoricand tumultuous Prime Ministerial tenure. Singh suffered a health crisis in 2009, when he had to suddenly undergo a coronary bypass surgery (his second), at AIIMS. It was his eldest daughter, Upinder, who spoke to The Indian Express: “Yes, we were worried because there is a risk factor in any heart surgery. But there were mixed feelings of being worried and optimistic..” As Prime Minister, “Dr Saheb,” as many in his office called him, was not fond of prolonged trips overseas. Except when he was on an official tour to US, and often to address the United Nations General Assembly, he would extend his visit for a day to spend time with his daughter, Amrit, who works as an attorney in New York. On one such trip in 2011, it happened to be September 26, thePrimeMinister’sbirthday,on his flight back from New York after a UNGA session. The sugarfree cake -- Singh was diabetic - for the Prime Minister was ready and loaded on Air India One but he had politely said no to any on-board celebrations. Finally, after take-off, when hewalkedovertothemediasection to greet journalists, I was asked by a member of the official delegation to try and persuade him. The Prime Minister shyly acquiescedandrequestedmetodo the honours – slices of the Prime Minister’s birthday cake were passed around as we wished him Happy Birthday. Singh was known to have been extremely protective of his family. As they CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad