Can Manmohan be Singh?
Chandan Mitra The Prime Minister showed uncharacteristic flashes of determination during the Obama visit, but will he stay the course in domestic politics? In the next few days, the Prime Minister has to take a crucial decision that will have a huge bearing not only on his coalition’s cohesion but also his personal image. For a man who rightly takes pride in his impeccable financial integrity, he has to again confront his conscience on the issue of his scam-tainted Telecom Minister whose shenanigans have dominated media coverage for more than one year. On several occasions in the recent past, the Prime Minister has sought to brush it under the carpet, but the sheer magnitude of the loss caused to the exchequer has ensured that neither the Opposition nor the media would give up on it. The CAG report, although yet to be officially tabled in Parliament, is known to have pegged the loss at an incredible Rs 1.76 lakh crore (even I am not sure how many zeroes are needed to write out the full
