Allies’ PM googly puts Cong in a spot SP, TMC Sting To Singh Fed By S&P Criticism?

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee seem to have endorsed rating agency Standard & Poor's sharply critical analysis that PM Manmohan Singh is unable to influence Cabinet colleagues and is a waning force. 

    The shock inclusion of Singh on a list of presidential probables stirred political circles, setting off talk of the allies having delivered a rude jolt to the PM who only recently said he was comfortable in his current assignment. 
    Singh's name is not likely to be taken seriously by the Congress while the SP and the TMC may also have tossed in his name as part of high-pressure bargaining, but the unmistakable impression is that Mamata and Mulayam have treated him with disdain. 
    For one, speculation on Singh "moving on" to Rashtrapati Bhavan has been swirling for months, driven first by the perception that Rahul Gandhi may step in. With the UP assembly results seen as a setback for Rahul, the talk died only to be revived when a deepening policy paralysis began to worry the Congress leadership. 
    The Congress leadership might be wearied by the glacial pace of decision-making but does not have clear choices about who could take over. Pranab Mukherjee is a de facto number two, but if the party is uncertain about considering him as president, it can hardly be confident about handing the premiership to him. 
    The PMO did not react with sources pointing to agency reports that "senior" Congress leaders ruled out a change of PM. 
    What has been brought into the open has been murmured for some time now: the PM's best phase in office might be behind him with concern mounting whether he can find the motivation and energy to wade against the odds as political challenges mount and there is an urgent need to attend to a slowing economy. 
    After being hailed for his leadership and understanding of the political economy, the comment has turned less flattering. The Economist described him as a lame duck and more recently as a leader with little clout. S&P and the magazine seem to have articulated what Delhi's power circles have been mulling for some time. With 8 ministers, India prez poll talk swirls in Washington 
Washington:It shouldn't be any surprise that the upcoming Presidential election is the talk of Washington DC at this time of the year. 
    But what if we are talking of India's presidential election scheduled to take place next month? No surprise there either. With eight Union ministers (including officials of equivalent rank) and numerous high ranking mandarins currently visiting Washington DC for the USIndia strategic dialogue, all eyes and ears are all trained on New Delhi's Rashtrapati Bhavan race even as the Americans are gearing up for their own election in November. 
    At one point during a reception at the historic Macomb Street home of the Indian ambassador to US, Nirupama Rao on Tuesday night, the Indian ministers, accompanied by some officials, gathered in a closed veranda-patio for a private tete-e-tete. It nearly appeared to be a mini-cabinet meeting, even as Indian and American guests milled about in the capacious drawing room tucking into desserts after dinner. They were evidently taking stock of the day's talks and the agenda for the next day. 
    But the sidebar conversations on either side of the mini-cabinet meeting were full of presidential election questions: Will "Pranab-da" get bumped up to Rashtrapati Bhavan was a question that trumped whether Barack Obama will get a second term in various India-US confabulations. Followed by, who will succeed Mukherjee in the finance ministry? 
    The odds were even on Mukherjee's chances with much depending on Mamata Banerjee, one minister said, recounting their "love-hate" relationship and explosive encounters in the cabinet meetings when she was the railway minister. 
    As for the finance ministry, if the Prime Minister had his way, it would be C Rangarajan, the former Reserve Bank governor. No, not P Chidambaram, although he is among the most competent ministers; he is having a hard-time holding on to his parliamentary seat. 
    Of course, Washington too is keeping a close watch on the race, including whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself will get propelled into Rashtrapati Bhavan or if Abdul Kalam will make a comeback; and who might end up in the Prime Ministerial chair. Each development has its own implication for the US.

NEW CONTENDERS: Former President A P J Abdul Kalam, former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and PM Manmohan Singh, whose names were proposed by SP supremo Mulayam Singh and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for the president's post on Wednesday

Indian health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad (left) with Indian MoS for women and child development Krishna Tirath attend the US-India Strategic Dialogue at the state department in Washington, DC on Wednesday. There are six other Union ministers along with other officials in the US capital for the strategic dialogue