‘Political consensus’ is not a phrase that appears often in Dr. Manmohan Singh’s pronouncements, nor has its pursuit become the hallmark of his prime ministerial record so far. As a matter of fact, he rarely speaks on political issues. The nation does not even expect Dr Singh to do so, since it is well known that there are dual centres of power in the UPA government, with political authority vested in the centre that is located outside the government. People know that he has chosen to define his own job as that of a mere CEO who has acceded to play second fiddle to the external centre of power, with its address at 10 Janpath.

Therefore, when Dr Singh, while speaking at the ASSOCHAM annual session last week, talked of the need to build “wider political consensus” on the issue of pricing of petroleum products, his appeal went predictably unnoticed and unheeded. The fact that, as PM, he had taken no initiatives whatsoever to build political consensus on this issue with the parties in the opposition even raised doubts about the sincerity of his appeal.

Nevertheless, here was an issue that eminently called for — indeed, it cried for — a constructive dialogue between the government and the opposition, and also between the prime minister and chief ministers. The case for it is compelling. India remains excessively dependent on imports for its oil-based energy needs. The price of imported crude oil has skyrocketed, from around $ 30 a barrel in 2003 to $ 130 per barrel in 2008. As a result, the losses incurred by India’s government-owned oil companies have jumped to Rs 2,00,000 crore compared with Rs 77,000 crore last year. In spite of being navaratna PSUs, they were in such dire straits that they faced the prospect of not being able to pay the salaries of their employees.

... contd.