As the first Sikh prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh is set to lead the country for the second term in a row. Those impressed by his economic policies and clean image are celebrating his party’s victory in the recent parliamentary election.

The Congress-led coalition has won enough seats in the lower house of the Indian parliament to run another minority government.

Manmohan Singh first became prime minister in 2004 and led a minority government with the help of like minded parties, including the communists who supported his government from the outside. Despite a number of challenges from the communists, who withdrew support from his government last year, Manmohan Singh’s regime survived and completed its full five-year term.

Although I am not a big fan of Manmohan Singh, I am happy that this man was able to complete his full term. It’s not because of his policies or his personality that I am happy for his success, but it is for the kind of message his victory has sent to the superstitious population of the country that still believes in astrology, destiny and good or bad omens.

When Manmohan Singh was first considered by his party for the Prime Minister’s Office in 2004, several astrologers insisted that he would not become a prime minister for lacking the letter "r" in his name.

They listed the names of the previous prime ministers to prove their point. Right from the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan Singh’s predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the men who led the world’s largest democracy had the letter "r" in their names.

Although he does not use his last name, Singh’s family name "Kohli" doesn’t contain the letter "r" either.

Manmohan Singh broke this misconceived "jinx" by not only assuming the Prime Minister’s Office, but also completing his term.

These so-called fortune tellers – who swayed countless votes in the world’s largest democracy with their quackery – should be ashamed for misleading the masses.

Singh’s success story has proved how wrong they were. Their defenders now argue that Manmohan Singh’s full name is Doctor Manmohan Singh!

While I am not the biggest flag waver for Manmohan Singh, largely because I don’t approve of his free market economic policies and his inclination to bring India so close to the United States, neither I am very excited about the ballyhoo being raised over him being the country’s first Sikh prime minister.

Ultimately, this connection has not helped the Sikhs, who were murdered brutally by the goons led by his Congress party in 1984. Thousands of innocent Sikhs were killed following the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in a historical wrong that has yet to be righted.

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