A COMPLICATED LEGACY

A conversation with Srinath Raghavan on his new book, Indira Gandhi And The Years That Transformed India, on Indira Gandhi's 'Caesarism', the paradigm shifts during her time & the Emergency

- AKASH CHATTERJEE

FOR some, Indira Gandhi was the best Prime Minister of India, and the 'liberator' of Bangladesh. To her critics, she was the architect of the Emergency—one of the darkest spots on Indian democracy—who also toppled non-Congress state governments. In his new book, Indira Gandhi and the Years That Transformed India (Penguin), author and historian Srinath Raghavan explores her complicated legacy through meticulous research. He shows how the world order between the mid-'60s to the '70s and India's internal political currents before and during Gandhi's time, shaped her life as a politician and administrator.

He also highlights how the early Congress government policies of Nehru and Shastri were out of sync for a time when Gandhi came to power, which led her to bring in a new set policies like the nationalisation of banks and to improve the Indo-US relationship.

Excerpts from the conversation with the author:

The Emergency is well documented. What does your book bring to the table?