India's cornered Prime Minister Manmohan Singh brushed aside on Wednesday widespread criticism that he was a "lame duck" leader presiding over a government mired in graft and policy paralysis, but offered little in way of policy steps he would take up.
The prime minister met five domestic media editors in an attempt to overhaul his reputation as out of touch with the country, with corruption scandals and stubbornly high inflation eroding confidence in his coalition government. As the government fights the backlash from the scandals, investors are increasingly worried it will not push through reforms to support long-term growth in Asia's third largest economy, including an overhaul of its land acquisition policy, taxation system and foreign direct investment rules.
"I think the market will be looking for actions rather than comments," said Samiran Chakraborty, regional head of research at Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai. "Confidence can come back only when there is perceptible movement in the policy stance. Before that, a cabinet reshuffle can bring in some hope." Singh said, according to editors present at the meeting, that he was not leading a "puppet government" with the real power held by Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi and her advisers - although that is a view widely held in India.
He denied speculation he would be replaced by Rahul Gandhi, the 41-year-old son of Sonia who has long been seen as a prime-minister in waiting, saying that was not on the party's agenda. "He agreed that there was a perception (of crisis) but that the perception is wrong he is not a lame-duck prime minister," Kumar Ketkar, editor of Divya Marathi newspaper, told reporters after talks with Singh.
Analysts were unimpressed with the message from Wednesday's meeting, comparing it with Singh's last interaction with the media in February when the prime minister had voiced similar sentiments but ended up doing little to back them up. Singh was critical of the media, calling it "accuser, prosecutor and judge" rolled into one. It was his third formal interaction with the media in his seven years in power.
The prime minister repeated that he would reshuffle his cabinet "soon" but declined to say whether there would be significant changes in top positions, according to two editors present at the meeting in the capital. Singh has been criticised for not firing inefficient or graft-tainted ministers and his perceived inaction has taken off the sheen from his image as the economist who ushered in India's economic boom when he was finance minister in the 1990s. Singh was again forced to discuss the issue of who would succeed him and whether it would happen soon.
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