India Through the Lens of 14 Leaders
Over its 72 years, independent India has ridden a roller coaster, as evidenced by book titles evoking fear of disintegration in its “dangerous decade” to celebrating “the rise of Goliath.” In this clear-headed, balanced book, Jaimini Bhagwati, an economist and former Indian foreign service officer, traces modern India through its 14 leaders so far. Under India’s parliamentary system, the prime minister has to work with cabinet colleagues as first among equals, but in reality strong charismatic personalities have left their mark on the country. Bhagwati evaluates their individual imprints on policy by assessing three Cs — character, charisma and competence.
Founding Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru scores highly for the first two but poorly in the last, especially in foreign affairs. “Nehru’s misreading of the minds of China’s leaders was extremely costly for India and the consequences are playing out till now.” His daughter Indira Gandhi’s stewardship was marked by high charisma, but grave character flaws. Her “significant foreign policy achievements [like the creation of Bangladesh] were overwhelmed by the long-lasting consequences of her domestic economic failures and undermining of democratic institutions.”
Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, just re-elected, is portrayed fairly for “extremely high” competence and charisma. But Bhagwati is muted on his character, noting his continued attempt to propagate “incorrect facts and outlandish concepts about India’s past.” He also notes that Modi’s office has centralized much government decision-making, an “unfortunate throwback to the years when Indira Gandhi was PM.”