Apr 24, 2014.. In 2004 Sanjaya Baru left a successful career as chief editor of the Financial Express to join Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his media ..
The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh is a 2014 memoir by Indian policy analyst Sanjaya Baru, who was Prime Minister ..
The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh - Kindle edition by Sanjaya Baru. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
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Apr 21, 2014.. The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh by Sanjaya BaruThe power and importance of the principal ..
In 2004 Sanjaya Baru left a successful career as chief editor of the Financial Express to join Manmohan Singh as his media adviser. Singh and Baru had been close and Baru, a great admirer of the technocrat who had ushered in the 1991 reforms, saw this as an opportunity to help a man he admired lead India down a new path. As Singh’s ‘eyes and ears’ and self-appointed ‘conscience-keeper’, Baru saw the transformation of Manmohan Singh from technocrat to politician. In his account, he tells his story of what it was like to ‘manage’ public opinion for Singh and how their relationship unravelled, while giving us a riveting look at Indian politics as it happened behind the scenes. Capturing the heady early days of UPA-1 to the high noon of the nuclear deal, The Accidental Prime Minister is one of the most important and intimate accounts of the prime minister and UPA-1. Show more Show less As I read the book I was overcome by nagging feelings of disquiet and a sense of sad sympathy for Dr. Manmohan Singh. Baru's book, although promoted as a political gossipy narrative by the publishers (Penguin), it is much more than that. It reveals much about the effects of the inner workings of the UPA-1 regime, without overtly giving away any confidential 'official secrets'. Cleverly done. It establishes that Dr. Singh was under many pressures and compulsions, and his fundamental role was to take the fall as head of a government, for any political-economic fallout, and to ascribe all positives to the Congress party and the Gandhi Dynasty. Dr. Manmohan Singh's role for his initiatives and successes were downplayed and instead, the ruling party sycophantically praised the Gandhis for those achievements. Many positive initiatives for the benefit of the country fell by the wayside and were scuttled in the interest of promoting the Dynasty. From the book it is clear that the dynastic politics of India holds back the possibilities of maximizing progress for the nation. In the epilogue Sanjaya Baru likens Manmohan Singh to Bheeshma of the Mahabharata -- he who also had to preside over and support dynastic politics, corruption and venality while maintaining his own integrity. Dr. Singh as the Accidental Prime Minister is disturbingly reminiscent of Bheeshma, with all the back-story implicit in that comparison. Sanjaya Baru succeeds in creating this impression indelibly in the reader's mind. This impression remains despite the flaws in the hastily edited book, and some tedious sections of narrative. Like the 'Accidental Prime Minister', the book too is a flawed but heroic presentation, while remaining deeply disturbing. It should stimulate sober thinking and re-evaluation of not only Dr. Singh's part in the growth and progress of India, but also should rudely awaken all who have tacitly or helplessly accepted the established corruption of government that has steeped into the daily lives of all Indians. Read more › For years I wondered why did a highly learned and competent man like Dr. Manmohan Singh is letting the BJP mock him openly. I wondered why has the country come to a standstill in the last 4 years. This book clarified many of those doubts. Although I feel sad for Dr. Singh .... while his party thought only of dynastic rule. Dr. Singh silently worked for the country without seeking anything for himself. Sigh!!! Hope that one day History would be kind of Dr Singh and Judge Sonia Gandhi with vengeance. Hearing about the book in Indian media and opposition ministers touting this as evidence of a 'failed' PM, I was very curious but expected a book full of gossip and partisan reporting (as most Indian media is). However, this book turned out to be quite an insightful read into Manmohan Singh as a person, his leadership qualities, strengths (yes it does talk a lot about those) and weaknesses. It is mostly very reverential to Dr. Singh, which is understandable since the author is a long time associate. Finishing the book, I felt sad for Dr. Singh - who has so many stellar achievements but has gotten much disrepute due to various reasons. I also ponder whether the author has betrayed Dr. Singh by writing this account - especially given the launch right before elections and Dr. Singh's regard for his own privacy. (Though the timing could very well be the decision of the publishers given how much media coverage they have been able to get around it). Here are some notes from the book, which I thought are worth sharing: "Years later, while working for Dr Singh, I discovered that misleadingly friendly smile was especially reserved for his critics and opponents... As a journalist, I had heard stories of how Indira Gandhi would suddenly win over a detractor with a smile or a special gesture. As a communist in my youth, I had also read stories of how Stalin had invited a colleague home for dinner before he was sent off to Siberia or just shot dead. Dr Singh was certainly not a Stalin, nor was he an Indira, but I felt he may well have learnt a lesson or two about winning friends and disarming critics from her." "Narayanan’s favourite line was, ‘I have a file on you.’ He used it, humorously, with ministers, officials, journalists and others he met, leaving them, however, with the uneasy feeling that he wasn’t really joking." "Politics is about power and patronage, and ministerial positions are won not just on the basis of competence but also in recognition of a politician’s political clout or loyalty to the leader." "The Congress party refused to allow Rao’s body to be brought into the party’s headquarters on its way to the airport, and Sonia chose not to be present at the Hyderabad cremation." "We all knew that NDTV had an inside line to the CPI(M) since NDTV’s Prannoy Roy was married to Radhika Roy, sister of Brinda Karat, a CPI(M)leader and the wife of Prakash Karat" "When the Left finally withdrew support to the government in July 2008, it tried till the very last to get Sonia to save the government by dumping Dr Singh and replacing him with a ‘pro-Left’ PM. Karat failed where his predecessors had succeeded, because by July 2008, Dr Singh’s personal credibility and his standing as PM had reached such heights that the Congress would have been grievously wounded if Sonia had dumped Dr Singh to please the Left and retain power." Read more ›
The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh - Kindle edition by Sanjaya Baru. Download it once and read it on your Kindle ..
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