Political non-fiction, India’s story of the year
NEW DELHI: 2014 will go down in India as the year political non-fiction truly came into its own with decision-makers — or those with access to them — penning down explosive tell-all memoirs. And the fun isn’t over as more are on the way.
Manmohan Singh’s former media advisor and veteran journalist Harish Khare’s memoirs of the 2014 elections – How Modi won it - will be out by the end of the year. Senior journalist Vinod Mehta’s book, Editor Unplugged- Media, Magnates, Netas and Me, is all set to be released next month.
Veteran Congress leaders M L Fotedar and R K Dhawan, and former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit are writing their autobiographies. Former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said he is finishing an account of the UPA years. Former minister Jairam Ramesh is writing three policy-focused books — on land issues, Maoists, and rural India while Manish Tewari confirmed to HT he is writing a book on the social transformation of the past decade and its political impact.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had told reporters in July that she will write her own book – to bring out the whole ‘truth’. It is not known if she has started working on it though.
So far most of the books published have targeted the Congress, exposed its vulnerabilities and mistakes at a time when its fortunes were declining. But the next phase of books is being written by leaders primarily from the Congress itself. Some will be a defence of its record like Khurshid’s, but many Congressmen are anxiously waiting to read Fotedar and Dhawan’s accounts -- both have been close to the Nehru-Gandhi family for decades. And if they decide to tell all, many secrets will come tumbling out.
The year began with Sanjaya Baru’s The Accidental Prime Minister in which he wrote about his years as media advisor to Manmohan Singh in UPA-1.
The book, for its revelations on the dual power structure, drew attention with Narendra Modi who referred to it repeatedly in his campaign speeches.
Natwar Singh’s memoirs, which claimed that Rahul Gandhi had prevented his mother from taking over as PM in 2004, and Vinod Rai’s account of his years as CAG were out next. Manmohan Singh’s daughter, Daman, wrote his biography. And senior television journalist Rajdeep Sardesai’s account of the 2014 polls – drawing on his familiarity with Modi since 1990 – spun together a narrative of the campaign in quick time.
While such books have long been a regular fare in the west – with multiple accounts of high politics in Washington for instance – it is a relatively recent trend in India. What explains the spate of non-fiction books?
Kapish Mehra, MD of Rupa Publications, which published Natwar Singh and Rai’s books, thinks India is maturing: “Contrary perspectives are now acceptable, and people are willing to pen down their accounts”.
The market is encouraging too. “Singh’s book has sold 70,000 to 80,000 copies and Rai has sold over 40,000. General audiences are lapping it up,” says Mehra.
An eco-system has developed to support such books. There are more publishers – Penguin published Baru and Sardesai, Hachette is bringing out Khare’s book.
The media is paying greater attention to the details exposed driving up curiosity within the ever-increasing pool of English-readers. And retailers and online stores have mushroomed that can support a high volume of books.
Tewari agrees it is a healthy trend. But adds, “This is good as long as it is bereft of political opportunism and is not a book masquerading as a CV – looking for a job in the new dispensation.”
A senior publishing source admitted that they have to be careful not to print books that are driven solely by ‘vendetta’. But another books editor, who did not want to be named, said, “Look people write because of complex motivations. Our aim is to bring out as candid an account as possible. Baru or Natwar Singh may have been angry with Congress, but their books have enriched public discourse”.
When asked why similar tellall books on BJP are not out, he added, “Let them be in power for a while, let contradictions emerge, people nursing grievances will write then”.