Editing Manmohan Singh (section)

== Political career ==
In June 1991, India's prime minister at the time, [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]], chose Singh to be his finance minister. Singh told [[Mark Tully]], a British journalist, in 2005:

<blockquote>On the day (Rao) was formulating his cabinet, he sent his Principal Secretary to me saying, "The PM would like you to become the Minister of Finance". I didn't take it seriously. He eventually tracked me down the next morning, rather angry, and demanded that I get dressed up and come to [[Rashtrapati Bhavan]] for the swearing in. So that's how I started in politics[.]<ref name="TULLY" /> </blockquote>

=== Minister of Finance (1991–1996) ===
In 1991, India's fiscal deficit was close to 8.5 per cent of the gross domestic product, the [[balance of payments]] deficit was huge and the [[current account deficit]] was close to 3.5 per cent of India's GDP.<ref name="rediff Business Desk">{{cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/sep/26pm.htm |title=Manmohan Singh: Father of Indian Reform |date=26 September 2005 |work=Rediff.com |access-date=3 January 2010 |archive-date=9 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409004118/http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/sep/26pm.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> India's foreign reserves barely amounted to US$1{{nbs}}billion, enough to pay for 2 weeks of imports,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/tr_show02.html |title=Commanding Heights: Episode 2 &#124; on PBS |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=3 November 2015 |archive-date=22 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022094123/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/tr_show02.html |url-status=live }}</ref> in comparison to US$600 billion in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://in.biz.yahoo.com/100101/50/bauua1.html |title=Forex reserves swell 11% in 2009 |author=Mahalakshmi Hariharan |date=2 January 2010 |publisher=Yahoo Finance India |access-date=3 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103094134/http://in.biz.yahoo.com/100101/50/bauua1.html |archive-date=3 January 2010 }}</ref>

Singh explained to the PM and the party that India is facing an unprecedented crisis.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> However the rank and file of the party resisted deregulation.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> So [[P. Chidambaram]] and Singh explained to the party that the economy would collapse if it was not deregulated.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> To the dismay of the party, Rao allowed Singh to deregulate the [[Economy of India|Indian economy]].<ref name="autogenerated1" />

Subsequently, Singh, who had thus far been one of the most influential architects of India's socialist economy, eliminated the [[license raj]] (which inhibited the prosperity of private businesses),<ref name="autogenerated1" /> reduced state control of the economy, and reduced import taxes.<ref name="rediff Business Desk" /><ref>{{cite book|title= The World is Flat – A brief history of the twenty-first century|last= Friedman|first= Thomas L.|year= 2008|publisher= Picador|isbn= 978-0-374-29288-1|page= [https://archive.org/details/worldisflatbri00frie/page/130 130<!--|page= 488-->]|url= https://archive.org/details/worldisflatbri00frie/page/130}}</ref> Rao and Singh thus implemented policies to open up the economy and change India's socialist economy to a more [[capitalism|capitalistic]] one. They removed many obstacles standing in the way of [[Foreign Direct Investment]] (FDI) and initiated the process of the privatisation of [[public sector]] companies. However, in spite of these reforms, Rao's government was voted out in 1996 due to non-performance of government in other areas. In praise of Singh's work that pushed India towards a market economy, long-time cabinet minister [[P. Chidambaram]] has compared Singh's role in India's reforms to [[Deng Xiaoping]]'s in China.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.oneindia.in/2008/05/02/manmohan-is-deng-xiaoping-of-india-p-chidambaram-1209740775.html |title=Manmohan is Deng Xiaoping of India: P Chidambaram – Oneindia News |publisher=News.oneindia.in |date=2 May 2008 |access-date=15 February 2011 |archive-date=26 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426190736/http://news.oneindia.in/2008/05/02/manmohan-is-deng-xiaoping-of-india-p-chidambaram-1209740775.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1993, Singh offered his resignation from the post of Finance Minister after a parliamentary investigation report criticised his ministry for not being able to anticipate a US$1.8{{nbs}}billion [[1992 Indian stock market scam|1992 securities scandal]]. Prime Minister Rao refused Singh's resignation, instead promising to punish the individuals directly accused in the scandal.<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/01/world/indian-leader-bars-key-aide-from-quitting-in-stock-scam.html?pagewanted=1 |title=Indian Leader Bars Key Aide From Quitting in Stock Scam |work=The New York Times |date=1 January 1994 |access-date=7 April 2010 |archive-date=29 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429200649/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/01/world/indian-leader-bars-key-aide-from-quitting-in-stock-scam.html?pagewanted=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha (1998–2004) ===
Singh was first elected to the upper house of Parliament, the [[Rajya Sabha]], in 1991<ref name="MSRj01">{{cite web|url=http://india.gov.in/govt/primeminister.php |title=Profile: Prime Minister India |publisher=Indian gov. |access-date=23 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422203715/http://india.gov.in/govt/primeminister.php |archive-date=22 April 2009 }}</ref> [[Rajya Sabha#Membership|by the legislature]] of the state of Assam, and was re-elected in 1995, 2001, 2007<ref name="dr mms" /> and 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/pm-manmohan-singh-elected-to-rajya-sabha_851741.html|title=PM Manmohan Singh elected to Rajya Sabha|publisher=Zee News Limited|access-date=11 June 2013|date=30 May 2013|archive-date=1 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601110645/http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/pm-manmohan-singh-elected-to-rajya-sabha_851741.html|url-status=live}}</ref> From 1998 to 2004, while the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] was in power, Singh was the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. In 1999, he contested for the [[Lok Sabha]] from [[South Delhi (Lok Sabha constituency)|South Delhi]] but was unable to win the seat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/politics/electionstats/candidate/MANMOHAN%20SINGH.html |title=Candidate Statistics Manmohan Singh |publisher=IBN Live |access-date=30 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419075333/http://ibnlive.in.com/politics/electionstats/candidate/Manmohan%20Singh.html |archive-date=19 April 2009 }}</ref>