A POLITICAL ROLLER COASTER
Award winning journalist and political commentator, Neerja Chowdhury’s book, “How Prime Minister’s Decide” is out this week. The book looks at six key political decisions taken by six different Prime Ministers, using these as a showcase to depict how decisions are taken at the highest levels. While the book provides a lot of insight and anecdotes into the cut and thrust of political play, one sub plot that stands out is that there are no permanent friends and foes in politics. Whether it is Raj Narain who opposed Indira Gandhi during Emergency, only to ally with her later against the Morarji Desai government to even Jai Prakash Narain, relenting to help out his friend Nehru’s daughter post Emergency. Through anecdotes and interactions the author brings out the changing equations between many of the dramatis personae in our politics, such as the fact that Raj Narain always referred to Indira as Shri Indira Gandhi and she in turn called him Banarsi Babu. Ditto for the role of V.P. Singh, who took on Rajiv Gandhi on Bofors, but helped his widow Sonia form the UPA by bringing in the DMK to the Congress fold. The story of Amar Singh’s on-again, off-again equation with the Congress also makes it to the book, down to how he was persuaded to bring the SP on board on the nuclear deal.
There are also relationships that went sour, such as the Rajiv Gandhi-Arun Nehru one, and the Indira Gandhi-P.N. Haksar one; the latter knew he had fallen from grace when she referred to him as Mr Haksar and not her usual Babooji. There are some fresh insights on the nuanced Vajpayee-Advani equation and the Narasimha Rao-Vajpayee friendship. Some of these facts are in public knowledge but what Neerja does is bring in the little details that were not known earlier. The author reveals in the foreword how she had reported on and interacted with almost all Prime Ministers from Indira Gandhi onwards, and kept diaries and notes from her reporting days, all of which contained precious nuggets that make these pages a must read book for any analyst, stakeholder and observer of politics.
Say it with Mangoes
Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor held his annual mango and chaat party last week, which was a welcome break from the stormy monsoon session. It was a well-attended do, with MPs cutting across party lines taking the time out to partake not just in the delicious fare, but in the spirit of the afternoon. Since it was also the Congress Media and Publicity Chairman Pawan Khera’s birthday, the host very graciously organised a cake for the occasion as well. Tharoor’s mango party is now a must-attend event during the Monsoon Session for politicians and beat reporters alike and it was reassuring to see MPs from all parties come together, despite the clouds of no-confidence looming large on the horizon. Meanwhile, back in Parliament, Tharoor has been busy taking on the government, on Manipur, on the controversial Delhi ordinance as well as making the case for a permanent bench of Kerala High Court to be established at Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital.
Currently the principal seat of the High Court is at Ernakulam, which is 200 km away from the capital. Tharoor’s case being that since the state is the main litigant in a majority of the cases before the court, it would save a lot of time and expense if the bench was situated within the capital. Not to mention, the added bonus being the fact that Thiruvananthapuram happens to be Tharoor’s constituency.
Inaction as a form of Action
P.V. Narasimha Rao has been blamed for sleeping on the job while the Babri Masjid was being demolished in 1992. The former Prime Minister is believed to be of the view that even inaction is a sort of action, and in her book, “How Prime Ministers Decide”, Neerja Chowdhury reveals that he allowed the demolition to take place so that the nation could move on, much as a “festering sore needs surgery” (on this the author quotes Som Pal, Janata Dal leader turned BJP MP). Som Pal also told Neerja that both Kushabhau Thakre and K. Sudarshan had warned Rao about the possible demolition. More importantly, Rao told the same to Nikhil Chakravartty, a left leaning journalist, “jo hua voh theek hua” and that he let it happen to put an end of BJP’s temple politics. Each chapter has an interesting (and hitherto unrevealed) take on major political events of the last seven decades. The author also reveals how initially A.B. Vajpayee was against the nuclear tests and opposed these during Morarji Desai’s tenure, only to go in for a test himself in 1998. Similarly, Rajiv Gandhi was first in favour of the Shah Bano judgement, but was soon “persuaded” to oppose it. Even for those in the know of things, the book is a refreshing read as it comes with the author’s own perspective and analysis. The fact that this comes with over 40 years of political reporting only adds heft to the book.