In 2004 Sanjaya Baru left a successful career as chief editor of the Financial Express to join Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his media adviser in UPA 1. Singh offered him the job with the words, �Sitting here, I know I will be isolated from the outside world. I want you to be my eyes and ears. Tell me what you think I should know, without fear or favour.'
The Accidental Prime Minister is Baru's account of what it was like to manage public opinion for Singh while giving us a riveting look at Indian politics as it happened behind the scenes. As Singh's spin doctor and trusted aide for four years, Baru observed up close Singh's often troubled relations with his ministers, his cautious equation with Sonia Gandhi and how he handled the big crises from managing the Left to pushing through the nuclear deal. In this book he tells all and draws for the first time a revelatory picture of what it was like for Singh to work in a government that had two centers of power.
Insightful, acute and packed with political gossip, The Accidental Prime Minister is one of the great insider accounts of Indian political life and a superb portrait of the Manmohan Singh era.
Contents
The Call from PMO
Getting to Know Dr Singh
Manmohan's PMO
Managing the Coalition
Responsibility without Power
Brand Manmohan
Manmohan's Camelot
�Promises to Keep'
The Manmohan Singh Doctrine
Making Borders Irrelevant
Ending Nuclear Apartheid
Sing Is King
A Victory Denied
Author: Sanjaya Baru
ISBN: 9780143424062
Pages: 301
Features: PB, Penguin |