Dr Manmohan Singh can get genuine political feedback in cabbie-net meetings

It may be worthwhile for government managers here to note the Norwegian Prime Minister’s observation this week that people say what they really mean in taxis. Indeed, some naturally egalitarian Norwegians may even have thought he had taken it up as a second job to supplement his salary despite his obviously rusty driving skills. However, two-term PM Jens Stoltenberg probably agreed to this public relations-driven, daylong cabbie avatar because drastic measures were needed ahead of next month’s elections, given that his Labour Party is trailing in the opinion polls after dominating Norwegian politics for eight decades.

Our own two-term PM’s driving prowess is unlikely to have been tested much in the last few decades either, though he does list a 1996 Maruti among his possessions. There also is nothing like a good Indian traffic jam — especially caused by VIP cavalcades — to elicit the most eloquent views from the citizenry on the state of the nation. So, with similar political conditions prevailing here, Dr Manmohan Singh could consider a few cabbie-net meetings to get feedback, as Stoltenberg obviously valued what he learnt from passengers in Oslo. His blue turban may not be an inevitable giveaway, so if his SPG detail desists from crowding into his cab, it may be a lucrative ride for Dr Singh.