India Insight

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is accused of looking the other way while murky deals were on in the telecom ministry.

He has drawn flak from the opposition and his personal integrity was questioned in what may be India’s largest corruption scandal.

But with few alternatives for his role as a fill-in for the Congress heir apparent, it is no surprise Singh is being stoutly backed by his boss, powerful party chief Sonia Gandhi.

Not having a constituency or political ambitions of his family to nurture, Singh perhaps has little use for the prime minister’s chair and may be tempted to leave it all.

But if not Manmohan Singh, then who?

After all, Singh was such an inspired choice for the prime minister’s post that another nominee may not be able to fill his shoes.

Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi have been let go by the Congress. Who will be next?

The scams laid at the government’s door do not end with the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the war homes scandal in Mumbai.

The opposition and the media, having tasted blood with Shashi Tharoor, Chavan and Kalmadi, now have Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja in the crosshairs over the sale of 2G spectrum.