New Delhi: The UPA government has completed the first year of its second innings in office as the Prime Minister is going to hold his first formal media interaction later Monday. Some feel it will set the agenda of governance for the days ahead.
The prime minister will face tough questions on price rise, Naxal terror and post-26/11 policy for the first time in the UPA's second innings in power.
During his first term as Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh on the nuclear bill had said, "If it does not go through, life will go on." Pragmatic words but ultimately he got both the nuclear deal and a second stint at the helm. And, since then it has been 12 months of a roller-coaster ride for Manmohan Singh.
First the economist PM has had to grapple with a spiralling inflation, giving ample opportunity to the Opposition to corner the government.
And just when under the new Home minister the UPA was claiming to have controlled the cross-border terror, the insurgency within has raised its head and now challenging the authority of the state.
The relative calm in Jammu and Kashmir also hasn't either helped to take the Indo-Pak talks any further than the usual interactions on the sidelines of international summits.
With Left decimated at the hustings, managing alliance was relatively easier at times. However the maverick Mamata Banerjee managed to embarrass the government by her prolonged absence form Parliament at crucial moments.
But it's the corruption charges against some of his ministers, especially in the alleged spectrum allocation scam that has had the most damaging effect on the government.
And lastly, the wrangling within between not so young and restless ministers of the Congress from Bt Brinjal to IPL controversy, the turf war took its toll. Shashi Tharoor had to quit and also Jairam Ramesh had to be made an example to contain foot in the mouth syndrome.
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