Quiet Revolutionary

Though widely seen as a reserved technocrat, Dr Manmohan Singh's political genius lay in how he positioned these changes. Quoting Victor Hugo - "No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come” — he framed liberalization not as submission to Western pressure but as India's destined path to becoming a global economic power, providing crucial political cover for future reformers across party lines. This was significant because it allowed regional parties and opposition leaders to gradually embrace aspects of economic liberalization without appearing to abandon their socialist credentials

In the summer of 1991, in his first budget speech as India's Finance Minister, when Dr Mannmohan Singh presented his economic vision to rescue India's faltering economy, it became clear that it was no ordinary moment. With a calm conviction, he spoke of structural reforms to resurrect the economy, of dismantling barriers that had shackled India's growth for long, and of opening the doors to a new future. Then, as he concluded his speech, his voice carried the weight of history and hope "Let the whole world hear it loud and clear. India is now wide awake. We shall prevail. We shall overcome." Little did the nation know that these words would echo across decades, marking not just the transformation of its economy but also a deep and lasting shift in its political and social landscape.

The India of 1991 was a nation on the brink, teetering under the weight of fiscal profligacy and a massive trade deficit.

Foreign exchange reserves dwindled to levels barely sufficient to cover a fortnight of imports, forcing the country to airlift gold reserves to secure emergency loans from international lenders. Decades of economic overregulation under the License Raj, a labyrinthine system of permits and quotas, had created an economy where scarcity became the norm and entrepreneurship was viewed with suspicion. Such economic malaise reflected a deeper political problem the state-controlled economy had created a political culture where electoral success meant promising more government control, more subsidies, and more protectionism.

Singh's reform proposals were revolutionary in both economic and political terms. By dismantling industrial licensing, slashing tariffs, welcoming foreign investment, and allowing the rupee to find its market value, he challenged the fundamental premise of post-independence Indian politics that the state must dominate economic life.