From Nehru, Shastri, and Indira to Vajpayee — An Objective Audit of Indian Prime Ministers

The greatest misfortune of Indian politics is that former Prime Ministers of the country are evaluated not through the lens of an objective historian, but through the eyes of blind devotees or blind detractors of political parties.

• One camp declares Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to be the sole villain behind every modern problem of the country (from Kashmir to poverty);
• A second camp completely glosses over Indira Gandhi’s Emergency and institutional dictatorship, bestowing upon her merely the badge of ‘Iron Lady’;
• And a third camp turns a blind eye to the complex political compromises of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, turning them into unblemished messiahs.

In Chapter 9 (‘India’s Prime Ministers and Their Contribution to India’) of his seminal book ‘Anokha Bharat’, N. Singh casts aside all partisan prejudice to present an unsparing, objective, and evidence-based audit of the country’s prominent Prime Ministers.

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1. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru: Modern Foundations versus Economic and Strategic Failure

1. Positive Contributions:
   • In 1947, when Pakistan and dozens of newly independent nations across Asia and Africa degenerated into military dictatorships, Nehru laid the robust foundations of parliamentary democracy, an independent Election Commission, and an autonomous judiciary in India.
   • By establishing IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, ISRO, and the Atomic Energy Commission, he turned scientific temper into a matter of national policy.
2. Historic Failures:
   • Blind emulation of the Soviet model: The Licence-Permit-Quota Raj throttled Indian enterprise. Primary education and healthcare were egregiously neglected in favour of an exclusive focus on heavy industries.
   • Strategic short-sightedness: The catastrophic defeat at the hands of China in 1962 and taking the Kashmir issue to the United Nations proved to be his monumental diplomatic blunders.

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2. Lal Bahadur Shastri: Moral Probity and ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’

• Shastri ji’s 18-month tenure was the golden era of Indian leadership. When Pakistan launched an attack in 1965, he did not hesitate for a second before ordering the army to cross the international border and march towards Lahore.
• When the United States threatened to cut off PL-480 wheat supplies, he called upon the entire nation to observe a fast once a week, setting a personal example by spinning the charkha (traditional spinning wheel) at home and leading a life of austere simplicity.
• The actual bedrock of the White Revolution (Amul/NDDB) and the Green Revolution was laid during Shastri ji’s brief tenure itself.

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3. Indira Gandhi: National Valour versus Suppression of Democratic Institutions

1. Strategic Zenith (1971): Dismembering Pakistan to create Bangladesh and securing the historic surrender of 93,000 Pakistani soldiers stood as undeniable testament to Indira Gandhi’s indomitable courage. The Pokhran-1 nuclear test of 1974 was an emphatic proclamation of India’s sovereignty.
2. Destruction of Democracy (The 1975 Emergency): When the Allahabad High Court declared her election invalid, she imposed a dark 21-month Emergency on the entire nation merely to cling to power. Press censorship, the imprisonment of lakhs of opposition leaders, and the poisonous introduction of a ‘committed judiciary’ broke the very backbone of the Supreme Court.

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4. Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Nuclear Power and the Decorum of Coalition Politics

• Defying American sanctions in 1998, he conducted five successful nuclear tests under Pokhran-2, establishing India as a declared nuclear-armed power.
• Through the Golden Quadrilateral and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (Prime Minister Village Road Scheme), he transformed the nation’s infrastructure.
• However, shackled by the compulsions of a 24-party coalition, he was unable to place an effective check on crony capitalism and political defections.

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Comparative Report Card of Key Prime Ministers

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The Bitter Truth from the Book: N. Singh’s Objective Assessment

Author N. Singh writes in Chapter 9 of his book ‘Anokha Bharat’:

“Independent India had to confront hundreds of conflicts. These conflicts were tied to land, language, region, and religion. When we look at our Prime Ministers, we find that every leader both gave something to the country and took something away from it. If Nehru gave us democracy and institutions, he also gave us economic shackles. If Indira Gandhi gave us the pride of 1971, with that very same hand she snatched away the fundamental rights of our citizens and shoved them into prison cells. The greatest hypocrisy of today’s politics is that it draws a veil over the flaws of its own leader while reviling even the virtues of the opposing leader. Until Indian citizens learn to assess their Prime Ministers objectively, they will remain nothing more than victims of political propaganda machinery.”
— N. Singh (Anokha Bharat, pp. 82-83)

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Four Essential Leadership Lessons for Nation-Building

1. Respect for Institutional Autonomy: No leader, no matter how popular, can be greater than the Constitution, Parliament, and the judiciary.
2. Highest Priority for the Soldier and the Farmer: Shastri ji’s mantra remains as relevant today as ever—no nation can remain free without security and food self-sufficiency.
3. Liberation from Dynastic Rule: The Prime Minister’s chair must not be the personal fiefdom of any single family; merit and public service alone must be the litmus test for supreme leadership.
4. National Interest above Partisan Politics: On matters of foreign policy and national security, it is imperative for the ruling party and the opposition to share a unified national vision.

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A Question Worth Pondering (The Message of the Book)

Can we summon the courage to rise above blind devotion and blind opposition to our leaders, and demand an impartial historical accounting of their deeds?

To gain a profound understanding of this authoritative chronicle of the policies, triumphs, and blunders of Indian Prime Ministers, every citizen must read this ninth chapter of N. Singh’s acclaimed book ‘Anokha Bharat’.