As Power Flows to Regional Bosses, Questions Rise on India's Economy "It seems like eons ago, but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his coalition government once inspired very high expectations," Jim Yardley wrote in The New York Times, "they were going to stoke India's economy, improve education, help the poor, build modern transportation and energy systems and, perhaps most improbably, prove that India, the most populous and messiest of democracies, could be successfully governed." The economy is in a tailspin, Mr. Singh and his government are desperately trying to regain credibility, and power is now radiating to regional political chieftains," he wrote. Regional bosses, once in decline, like "the squat, sleepy-eyed" leader of Samajwadi Party Mulayam Singh Yadav, are becoming kingmakers again.