Described as a “lazy king” in his first term as prime minister, the soft-spoken Manmohan Singh, who died on Thursday at 92, may have been one of India's most successful leaders.
Singh, the first Sikh to lead his country, was prime minister from 2004 to 2014, serving two odd terms. He had been treated for age-related medical conditions.
He is credited with leading India to unprecedented economic growth and lifting hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty. He went on to serve a rare second term.
“India mourns the loss of one of its most respected leaders,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He recommended the working group of the political economist.
Born into a poor family in the British-ruled part of India now in Pakistan, Singh studied by candlelight to win a place at Cambridge University before going to Oxford, earning a doctorate with a thesis on the role of exports and free trade in the Indian economy. .
He became a distinguished economist, then governor of the central bank of India and a government adviser, but had no plans for a political career when he was suddenly tapped to become a minister finance in 1991.
During that time until 1996, Singh was the architect of reforms that saved India's economy from a bad balance of payments, promoted deregulation and other measures that opened the insular country to the world.
Famously quoting Victor Hugo in his first budget speech, he said: “No power on earth can stop an idea of its time,” before adding: “The emergence of the – India as a major economic power in the world happens to be one of those ideas.
Singh's ascension to the prime ministership in 2004 was even more unexpected.
He was asked to take up the job by Sonia Gandhi, who led the centre-left party to a stunning victory. Italian by birth, she feared that her ancestry would be used by the Hindu nationalist opposition to attack the government if she was to lead the country.
Overcoming a period of unprecedented economic growth, the Singh government shared the spoils of the country's new prosperity, including welfare schemes such as a jobs program for the rural poor.
In 2008, his government also made a special deal that allowed for peaceful trade in nuclear energy with the United States for the first time in three decades, paving the way for strong relations between New Delhi and Washington.
But his efforts to open up the Indian economy were often frustrated by political conflicts within his own party and demands from coalition partners.
'History will be kinder to me'
And while he was highly respected by other world leaders, at home Singh always had to stop the idea that Sonia Gandhi was the real power in the government.
The widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, whose family has dominated Indian politics since independence from Britain in 1947, she remained a leader of the Congress Party and often made key co- decisions.
Known for his simple lifestyle and reputation for honesty, Singh was not personally seen as a villain. But he was attacked for failing to crack down on members of his government as a series of scandals erupted in his second term, sparking mass protests.
The final years of his tenure saw India's growth story, which he helped engineer, shift as global economic turmoil and sluggish government decisions dampened investment sentiment.
In 2012, his government was reduced to a minority after the Congress Party's largest ally left the coalition in protest against the entry of foreign supermarkets.
Two years later the Congress was swept aside by the Bharatiya Janata Party under Narendra Modi, a stalwart who promised to end economic stagnation, clean up corruption and bring inclusive growth to the masses. rural areas.
But at a press conference just months before he left office, Singh insisted that he had done the best he could.
“I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or, for that matter, the opposition parties in parliament,” he said.
Singh is survived by his wife and three daughters.
