Seeing India through its PM’s lens

An understated reason for Indira Gandhi calling the Emergency in 1975mdashI learnt from journalist Neerja Chowdhuryrsquos book How Prime Ministers Decidemdashwas to rewrite Indiarsquos ConstitutionAn objective to pause the parliament was apparently to arrange a new Constituent Assembly that would put in place a presidential form of government in India Much like the US only without the sufficient checks on the US Prez Senate Congress courts etcIf you look back at personality cults that have dominated Indiarsquos collective Westminsterstyle parliamentary system adopted since independencemdashdoesnrsquot the role of the Indian PM already seem presidential enoughConsider the Pokhran nuclear test of 1998 greenlit by PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee No politician knew about it until Vajpayee informed them once the cat had pretty much hopped off the bagWhen Chowdhury met L K Advani Vajpayeersquos number two in cabinet he sounded melancholic rather than ecstaticmdashas he shouldrsquove been shortly after successful testing of an annihilative bomb his party was wedded toNeerja Chowdhury veteran journalist and the author of How Prime Ministers DecideVajpayee had routinely changed his stance on nuclear testing throughout his career as per Chowdhuryrsquos bookmdashso tightly spread over 500 pages shining a penetrative light on six decisions taken by Indiarsquos PMs that could form their legacyWhat they reveal instead is how politics is often triggered by crises so personal that yoursquore amazed anybody had the whole country in mind let alone history into the futureResponses are intrinsically to the moment Decisions remain Trivia fades over time For instance how many will remember the name Yashpal Kapoor from PM Indirarsquos secretariat He got employed as an election agent on Indirarsquos Rae Bareilly seat in 1971One Justice Jaganmohan Sinha at Allahabad High Court hence found PM Indira guilty of electoral improprietymdashbanning her from parliament for six frickinrsquo years Pushed to the corner she imposed EmergencyTake PM V P Singh who implemented the Mandal Commission Report in 1990mdashgathering dust for a decademdashbecause his deputy Devi Lal had walked out on himIntroducing reservations for lower castes in government jobs before Devi Lalrsquos antiVP public rally gave him just that distractionupperhandVP knew there would be public opposition to Mandal He hadnrsquot anticipated scores of young men dousing themselves in fire Selfimmolation on streets became the rage Indian politics got centred on caste reservations thereafterOr witness Rajiv Gandhi opening locks of the disputed Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1986 This unlocked temple politics in India The BJP politically skyrocketed from it Why would Rajiv field so well for his rivalsBecause hersquod enacted the Muslim Womenrsquos Bill right beforemdasheffectively denying Muslim divorcees alimony for life bringing the term lsquominority appeasementrsquo into popular lexiconLiberal Muslims indeed the women mustrsquove felt let down by Rajiv He simultaneously eyed the Hindu religious votes therefore opening up BabriPower the drug being an end in itself defined by constant lsquopolitickingrsquomdashleaders looking over head shoulder backside for desperate competitors making one wonder when any wellmeaning work gets done at all Thatrsquos the reason a lot of people identify themselves as lsquoapoliticalrsquo What they mean is they arenrsquot into partisan politicsmdashchiefly dirty gossip around the notsogoodlooking people Apathy is also a political actThose in politics get immune to bloodstained daggers I suppose VP knifed Rajivrsquos personal image dislodged him in 1989 No one from Gandhi family has been a PM sinceWhen Rajivrsquos wife Sonia had to cobble together a coalition government in 2004 she approached VP for assistance Evidently nothing is permanently personal at the topWhat kinda people become PMs in India Therersquove been 14 since independence Notable exceptions apart most seem to be practically single people either by circumstance or choice Which is in contrast to western heads of states say US UK who must parade their spouses to come across to voters as the lsquofamily typersquoP V Narasimha Rao was a quiet PM who kept everyone guessing his next Machiavellian move Contrary to popular perception Chowdhury whorsquos covered politics over four decades writes Manmohan Singh had a short temper The coterie that surround PMsmdashtantriks fixers bureaucrats businessmenmdashare inevitably the more interesting charactersHow Prime Ministers Decide is packed with themmdashas a biographyanthology on contemporary Indian politics itrsquos up there with the best Irsquove read Vinay Sitapatirsquos two books on Rao VajpayeeAdvani Tariq Alirsquos The Nehrus and The Gandhis Ramchandra Guharsquos India After GandhiAlso I particularly enjoy nonfiction by journalists because they are by nature prone to anecdotes Whether apocryphal or not yoursquore certain the story is from a source no further than a degree of separation from the subjectMy favourite from Chowdhuryrsquos tellall relates to political rivals PM Jawaharlal Nehru and his deputy Vallabhbhai Patel Patel wanted a particular candidate as Congress president Nehru had his own choice Canvassing for support Patel went over to Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed later to become Indiarsquos PresidentAhmed told Patel hersquoll go with Nehru To which Patel retorted ldquoFakhruddin do exactly what you like But remember Jawaharlal can never help a friend nor ever harm an enemy I never forget a friend and never forgive an enemyrdquoIn her book Chowdhury doesnrsquot touch on the current PM Narendra Modi You can see why Hersquos of course yet to be judged by historyMayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture He tweets mayankw14Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper