Indira Gandhi - Softcover

Malhotra, Inder

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0340535482 ISBN 13: 9780340535486

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton General Division, 1991

Synopsis

In India there are few neutral opinions about Indira Gandhi. A crowd estimated to be nearly a million people attended a rally to honour her on the first anniversary of her assassination, but a large section of Indian intelligentsia remains implacably hostile towards her. Inder Malhotra's biography explores this complex and private person who lived under constant public gaze and learned to adjust her demeanour to the occasion, concealing her true self and real feelings. The book examines her unusual and unhappy marriage, the influence of her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, on her career, and her relationship with her sons - Sanjay, her chosen heir, and his elder brother, Rajiv, who actually succeeded her. It traces Mrs Gandhi's rise to power and her downfall, the seeds of which were sown in the summer of emergency in 1975. The later revival in her fortunes led eventually to the siege of the Sikh Golden Temple, and so to her assassination in November 1984.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Malhotra knew Indira Gandhi well from 1956 onward, as a correspondent for Britain's Guardian and as the Times of India' s Delhi editor. In a superb, balanced, riveting portrait, he assesses both strengths and flaws of the dominant, assertive prime minster who from early childhood identified with Joan of Arc, and who, like St. Joan, was betrayed by those she trusted, assassinated in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards. Completely identifying herself with her nation, this indefatigable daughter of Nehru turned the world's largest democracy into a virtual dictatorship by declaring an Emergency in 1975. After her electoral defeat, imprisonment and her triumphant return to power in 1980, she adopted a paranoid leadership style and blandly tolerated corruption as economic disparities widened, according to Malhotra. Yet he credits her with holding India together, making it the preeminent nonaligned power, maintaining democracy and pushing through the Green Revolution which enabled her country to feed itself self-sufficiently. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Biographies of Indira Gandhi have encompassed either wild adulation or bitter opposition. Malhotra's portrait is the most balanced of any currently available. As an Indian journalist, Malhotra interviewed the prime minister numerous times, acquiring a knowledge of and sympathy for Gandhi's familial and political complexities. He describes with sensitivity her childhood in the Nehru family and its ambivalent influence on her maturing process. With discernment he also examines how her career was affected by her father, Jawalharal Nehru, and her marriage. He suggests that some of Gandhi's most controversial acts, such as her declaration of a state of emergency and her violence against the Sikhs, may have been due to her struggle as a woman in Indian politics. Malhotra's work reflects authority and intelligent observation and is highly recommended.
- John F. Riddick, Central Michigan Univ. Lib., Mt. Pleasant
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton General Division
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0340535482
• ISBN 13: 9780340535486
• Binding: Paperback