Did Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee share uneasy equations?

MUMBAI: Senior Congress leaders, led by Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, lavished praise on Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at a Congress Working Committee meeting convened on Monday to bid farewell to the veteran politician.
Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi quoted Singh as saying he had mixed feelings about having to let go of Mukherjee, 77, widely described as the government's troubleshooter.
But despite the bonhomie, say government officials involved in policymaking, a gulf had opened up between the prime minister and his powerful deputy over the direction of economic policy over the past year, notably over a controversial proposal enabling the government to retrospectively tax overseas deals involving Indian assets.
The amendment, which many regard as overturning a Supreme Court ruling that had said Vodafone Plc would not have to withhold tax on the purchase of its Indian telecom business, did not find favour with the PMO. The move, which has attracted widespread international opprobrium, also appeared to contradict Singh's assurance to Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister in 2009, that Vodafone would be able to contest tax claims before the Indian judiciary. But, though Mukherjee rolled back many measures proposed in the 2012 Budget, he stuck to his guns on Vodafone.
The prime minister, say people familiar with the matter, has also been less than impressed by the finance ministry's response to threats of downgrades by rating agencies and to the continuing slide in the rupee.
There were also differences between Singh, 79, and Mukherjee last year on granting a fresh two-year term to RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao, say officials familiar with the matter. Singh, himself a former central bank chief, eventually prevailed, resulting in Subbarao heading the central bank for a second term.
The prime minister is widely expected to hold additional charge of the finance ministry for some months and run it with the help of his trusted aides - Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, and C Rangarajan, chairman of the PM's Economic Advisory Council.
Says a former secretary in the finance ministry who has worked with Singh and a string of finance ministers: "There has been a role reversal compared to the past when you had a politically strong prime minister and a competent finance minister. In this case, Mukherjee has a strong political standing of his own and was often called to douse a lot of fires. That would have meant the prime minister going soft even when it was evident that economic management was faltering."
Yashwant Sinha, BJP leader and former finance minister, says the relationship was a troubled one and it did reflect in economic management. "No finance minister, however powerful he is, will be out on a limb without the complete and unflinching support of the prime minister, who has to play the role of a friend, philosopher and guide when it comes to day-to-day issues," he says.