New Delhi: As the UPA-II government completes one more year we take a look at some of the highlights of this term.
"I am a reluctant politician," said Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India in 2008.
Some may dispute that, but what's clear is that Manmohan Singh has grown in stature and turned out to be far more emphatic and assertive in the last 6 years as Prime Minister. In fact, he has slowly made the transition from an economist-turned-bureaucrat to an assertive and at times stubborn politician.
Risking his government's survival for the Indo-US nuclear deal and not getting bogged down by the cash-for-vote controversy.
In his last official press conference in 2006, Manmohan Singh was at pains to fight the charge that he was a weak Prime Minister.
But the BJP went on to contest elections on the plank of a strong leadership and assertive government. However, the Congress emerged victorious.
In April 2009, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi declared that Manmohan Singh is the prime ministerial candidate.
It is with this euphoria that the PM went a step forward to sign a joint statement with Pakistan Prime Minister Gilani at Sharm-el-Sheikh, delinking terror from dialogue with Pakistan.
The process had to be halted after a section in the Congress raised objections but the PM still hasn't given up.
Manmohan Singh said on July 29, 2009, "After all we cannot be at war with each other. At height of the Cold war, US and Russia continued to talk to each other."
That was the first of a series of challenges that included:
- Pakistan
- Price rise
- Maoists
- Spectrum controversy
- 'Foot-in-mouth' stricken ministers
Prime Ministers are usually wary of holding press conferences in Delhi, but certainly not Manmohan Singh.