Portrayal of a Complex Personality
Hari Jaisingh
MOTHER INDIA: A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF INDIRA GANDHI by Pranay Gupte Penguin/Viking, 2010, 597 pp., 599
July 2010, volume 34, No 7

Pranay Gupte provides us a highly gripping multidimensional account of Indira Gandhi’s life, times and politics. As a credible journalist of with varied media outlets like the prestigious New York Times, Forbes and BBC he has taken great pains in reaching out to his potential news sources to capture the complex personality of India’s Prime Minister as objectively as a media person could go. Once known as a ‘goongi gudia’, Indira’s meteoric rise in politics could be anybody’s pride or envy depending on which side of the fence one happens to be. It is, however, remarkable the way she fought her way up against all odds and adversaries within and beyond the Congress umbrella. Among several of her critics, one name that stands out is that of the socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia. For personal reasons, he was hostile to the very idea of a woman capturing the reins of power in New Delhi. The author recalls a speech of Lohia’s in which he said Indira should be defeated in the election so that ‘this pretty woman does not have to suffer pain and trouble beyond her endurance.’

Since the election then was, of course, some time away, the colourful socialist leader remarked that ‘we will have a pretty face for a time and she will be burdened with the weight of her father’s and Mr Shastri’s misdeeds. To that we can safely add the burdens of her own misdeeds.’ A very unfair observation indeed!

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