New Delhi, February 16
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today accused the BJP of “blackmail, double talk and holding up reforms process by stalling proceedings in Parliament.

Manmohan Singh reiterated his commitment to economic reforms, but at the same time said that he was unhappy with the way the Opposition, the media and the judiciary were projecting the image of his government.

In reply to a query, the Prime Minister said, “No, we have not given up on reforms. We will persist…. I sincerely hope in the (upcoming) Budget session we will see a clearer picture of the reforms’ agenda.”

But he blamed the Opposition, especially the BJP, for the delay in the introduction of the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Service Tax. "The Opposition, particularly the BJP, has taken a very hostile attitude."

“In private, they say you (the PM) have taken a decision against a person who was a minister in Gujarat [he was referring to former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah]. You must reverse it or…." Here the PM paused and then said, "I don't want to say further.”

The PM seemed to recall the incident during run-up to the Monsoon session last year when he invited Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, for lunch but they didn't turn up in protest against Amit Shah’s arrest.

New Delhi, February 16
The Prime Minister’s interaction with TV editors on Wednesday was undoubtedly meant to send out a strong signal that he means business and that he is firmly in the saddle. But a tense and uncomfortable Manmohan Singh may have ended up giving a different message, raising questions about the wisdom of exposing him to hostile questions less than a week before the Budget session.

While TV editors peppered Singh with questions about why he had failed to act on graft cases, allegedly corrupt ministers and why probes had taken so long, the Prime Minister, looking defensive and rattled, denied inaction or delay, often referring to a written statement. Sometimes he blamed coalition politics for the lack of quick decisions, other times, the media. He was clearly trying to come across as strong, feisty and determined, but at times appeared shaken, fuzzy on facts and out of the loop. The PM also at times gave the impression of indecision, such as when he was asked why he did not act quickly over problems in the allocation of telecom licenses between 2007 and 2008.

“Although complaints were coming from all sides, some from companies not benefiting (from the telecom Spectrum allocation) ... I was not in a position to make up my mind that anything seriously was wrong,” he said.

Yet for all that, India's economy is forecast to grow at near 9 per cent in fiscal 2012 (April/March), around the same blistering pace as this year. And with few credible challengers to the ruling Congress, he is expected to stagger on until the next parliamentary elections in 2014.

“Elections are three years away, and the state elections this year are all ones Congress will do fairly well in, so there is no political pressure to get their act together right now," said Sanjay Baru, editor of The Business Standard and the PM’s media adviser from 2004 to 2008. “There is no immediate threat to the government as the economy is doing relatively well.”

The televised roundtable may do little to improve the sagging image of the government. In a survey carried by a newspaper on Sunday, 83 per cent of the respondents said corruption was at an all-time high and three out of five blamed politicians for it. Less than a third believed the government was serious about the problem of corruption and almost all of those polled said scandals had tarnished the government's image.

“What is the fundamental difference for Manmohan Singh in the first and the second term? I think he has probably taken the view that it’s time to allow a transition to happen," said an editor who attended the conference.

Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, however, objected to the impression that that Manmohan Singh was to blame for graft, or was ineffective. “You have to allow ministers the responsibility to take decisions and to implement them fairly and reasonably, you do not expect the Prime Minister to be looking over your shoulder," Sibal said.

“He is doing 500 things on one day. How many ministers will he look at, 72 ministers? Whose shoulder will he look over?" he asked.