It is not often that the words of a ‘literary icon nonpareil’ make sense to the man on the street. But Mani Shankar Aiyar’s comments on the parliament logjam over FDI in retail would make every person who wants his vote’s worth nod in agreement.

For those who, out of sheer habit, had reached for their earplugs when Aiyar spoke last, here’s a rewind. He said that parliament will function smoothly if the prime minister attended it regularly. The litterateur in Rajya Sabha does have sound advice for his erudite economist compadre. Relative to the context in which Aiyar offered his pearl of wisdom, it only seems like the right thing to do. After all, it is prime minister Manmohan Singh who has been humming the FDI tune all this while. So, why should he be exempted from defending it in parliament? Is he not answerable to its members? Some would argue that he is unlearned in the ways of representing people, being a member of the upper house. But FDI is just good economics, the government has been insisting. And that is the prime minister’s fiefdom – or so we have been led to believe.  So, why then was he MTA (missing-the-action) in parliament?

Aiyar says that the prime minister has to set the tone for a democracy. What kind of prime minister is Dr Singh then, if he expects MPs to pass policies without so much as a discussion? It can only be reticence or disdain on his part if he does not care to even appear in the treasury benches while the opposition demands that there be a debate on the FDI in retail.

Sadly, the FDI logjam is not the only instance of Singh’s debilitating diffidence. Prime ministerial dictats during most of the crises the government faced in the last few years have come from Air India One, and not parliament. Of course, one should assume that these were cases of unfortunate timing and that this flying was not fleeing. It can be all dismissed as coincidence. But what business does the head of a government have other than actually heading it? And as the head of the government, the PM is expected to address concerns of the people placed before him through their representatives. Every time Singh fails to turn up at parliament when he should have, he is failing the country.

The oddness of Singh’s situation is that he remains saddled with a position he has never demonstrated an aptitude for. But the unforgivable bit is his stubborn refusal to even attempt pretence of leadership. One hopes Aiyar’s pinching of the prime ministerial arm wakes Singh up to this reality.