NEW DELHI — Manmohan Singh, the gentlemanly Oxford-educated economist who saved India from economic collapse in 1991 and began the liberalization of its economy, has been appointed the country's next prime minister, ending a week of high political drama.
Singh said Wednesday night that the country's president had asked him to form the next government, a ritual of transition in this parlia- mentary democracy. At his side stood Sonia Gandhi, who a day earlier had stunned the country by announcing she would not become prime minister as expected.
Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, reiterated that decision on Wednesday, despite pleas and protests from party members. Members of Parliament from her Indian National Congress then selected Singh, who was the finance minister from 1991 to 1996. He will be sworn in within a few days.
In many ways, Singh, the architect of the opening and restructuring of the Indian economy after four decades of quasi-socialism, is an apt choice to lead India now, when it is fast rising as a global economic power.
India's economy faces the challenge of reforming further to ensure higher growth rates but also delivering the benefits of reform beyond the growing middle class. That is the message being taken from the election results, when the largely pro-reform government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party was roundly rejected by voters.
"We will give to the world and to our people a model of economic reforms," Singh said Wednesday night, but with a "human element." The new government, he said, would "create new opportunities for the poor and the downtrodden to participate in development."
A Sikh who has made a powder-blue turban his trademark, Singh will be India's first non-Hindu prime minister. On Wednesday night, jubilant Sikhs celebrated outside Singh's house in New Delhi.
Singh, 71, is widely described as honest, intelligent and thoughtful.
In an arrangement unusual for the Congress Party, where one leader has typically dominated, Gandhi will remain in charge of the party, leaving Singh freer to focus on government.
Singh's skills will be sorely tested by the government now under formation. Congress needs the support of the country's communist parties to form a government, but those parties have decided not to take part in the Cabinet. Singh will need to keep them on board while pursuing the long-term policies he believes the country needs.