Some epithets just stick on Indian PMs

The international media's pessimistic view of Indian prime ministers shows a sense of criticism they harbour. The current point of discussion in the foreign media is the incumbent prime minister Manmohan Singh. On Wednesday, the American daily Washington Post labelled him as a 'tragic figure'. The article critiques him, saying, 'The story of Singh’s dramatic fall from grace in his second term in office and the slow but steady tarnishing of his reputation has played out in parallel with his country’s decline on his watch.'

The 79-year-old Singh was featured on the cover of the July edition of the

Time magazine, with the title 'The Underachiever: India Needs a Reboot'. Few days after this feature appeared, The Independent, a British daily, criticised Singh's tenure with a controversial headline 'Manmohan Singh: India's saviour or Sonia's poodle?' Singh has come under sharp criticism each time the foreign media decides to write about his tenure.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that an Indian prime minister has been chosen by the international media for such sharp attack. Its hot favourite was the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In 2002, Vajpayee featured on the cover of

Time, with the title 'Asleep at The Wheel?' The piece read, 'He drank heavily in his prime and still enjoys a nightly whiskey or two at 74. India's leader takes painkillers for his knees [which were replaced due to arthritis] and has trouble with his bladder, liver and his one remaining kidney.... He takes a three-hour snooze every afternoon on doctor's orders and is given to interminable silences, indecipherable ramblings and, not infrequently, falling asleep in meetings… Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then, would be an unusual candidate to control a nuclear arsenal.' This piece was also used as a rebuttal by the Congress when the Bharatiya Janata Party aggred with the

Time cover on Singh.

In 2002 again, an article on the BBC web site had probed Vajpayee's latent right-wing ideology. The article read, 'Atal Bihari Vajpayee's critics call him “the mask”, saying his benign smile of moderation hides his party's links with Hindu extremists.' Another article on this web site posted in 2005, titled 'How will history remember Vajpayee?' critiques his persona. It reads, 'The greatest blot on his copybook may be the Gujarat riots of 2002.'

Another prime minister, who came under the BBC scanner in 2004 was P V Narasimha Rao. This piece mentions, 'The destruction of the Babri mosque was seen as the most serious threat to India's secular identity since independence, and the failure of his government to protect the mosque cost the Congress Party significant Muslim support.... He was found guilty of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to a regional party in 1993 to support the Congress in a vote of confidence.'