What was foreign minister Pranab Mukherjees role?
He played an extraordinary role. Next to the PM, he was the singularly most important individual at two or three different levels. First, only he could negotiate with the Left—he was always very sober and never victim to extravagant expectations. Second, his bureaucratic weight in the government and his years of experience were critical. He kept the bureaucracy going, reached out to the coalition, dealt with the press, and argued the case vigorously in Parliament. Aren’t you forgetting a very important lady? No, I am not. I think Sonia Gandhi was obviously critical as was Rahul. But whatever they did, they did behind the scenes, at a level I was not privy to. It is quite obvious that this initiative couldn’t have gone forward if Sonia had not made the extraordinary political decision to confront the Left. That was ultimately her call. If the Democrats come to power, what are the implications for the deal? I hope they stay the course. With the deal completed, the action now moves to the
