Rate this book

The Accidental Prime Minister : The Making And Unmaking Of Manmohan Singh (2014)

by Sanjaya Baru(Favorite Author)

3.6 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0670086746 (ISBN13: 9780670086740)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Viking

review 1: Manmohan Singh had little say in:a) Appointing Ministers,b) Allocating portfolios, andc) Appointing their secretariesthereby leaving him very little mechanism to control the ministers who were, theoretically, reporting to him.On top of it, there were the GoMs and EGoMs, well over 50 of them, headed by senior ministers other than Manmohan Singh which would take executive decisions which the cabinet would only ratify. This took away further space away from Dr. Singh.He was a poor public speaker, and not a member of Lok Sabha as well. This took away further political heft from him.Finally, and most importantly, by nature or by circumstances, he kept yielding space, kept giving credit to the Gandhi family for his work and did not assert the power which his position held. While... more why he did that is not something this book tells us, and it would be hasty to jump to any conclusions here, but this is the single most important factor on which history may judge the performance of Dr. Singh as PM. A well-written book, it gives us a glimpse into the power corridors of Delhi. Validates most of the publicly held opinions about Dr. Singh and the UPA governments he headed, which is surprising given that they were all shaped by the media. Which reminds one of how much credit the mainstream media deserves for keeping one informed of the happenings in the Government.
review 2: This book is not the type of mud-slinging vitriolic memoir that I thought it would be. Instead, I found it to be a very engrossing portrayal of Dr. Singh's terms as PM and the issues he grappled with. The book provides insights into the complicated relationship Dr. Singh shared with Sonia Gandhi and his attempts to keep the government going for its entire term despite the demands by various political parties and personalities that constituted the coalition. It recounts key instances during the two terms that the author by virtue of his proximity probably witnessed first-hand and also provides a vivid insight into the functioning of the highest levels of Indian government. I believe Dr. Singh is accurately portrayed by the author as a sincere professional trying to do his best despite having his hands tied due to a coalition government with competing priorities and the presence of an extra-constitutional power center in the form of Sonia Gandhi.My conclusion of Dr. Singh after reading this book is that he tried too hard to keep a broken situation going.....I would have expected a man of his principles to instead resign to allow the electorate to decide who should really be in charge when he found that the coalition and the extra-constitutional control by Sonia Gandhi was being detrimental to the proper functioning of the country. By turning a blind eye to all the corruption and nefarious dealings that came to be associated with the UPA government, Dr. Singh who I have a highest regard for did a dis-service to the country by not resigning to force the electorate to establish a clearer mandate. This probably marred his legacy that could have been equivalent to a Lee Kuan Yew and other great leaders of our times. less

Download links for: The Accidental Prime Minister : The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh

Advertising