A Leader & 19 Months

The legacy of Lal Bahadur Shastri is unfairly overshadowed by the peace he brokered at Tashkent, a visit that also took his life. Among his contributions were the Green Revolution, appointing C. Subramaniam as his food minister, and recognizing the talent of M.S. Swaminathan

- SHEKHAR GUPTA

Two tumultuous 19-month periods have defined our past over three generations, determined our present, and will continue to dominate the future in their very contrasting ways. One is easy to guess — the 19 months of Emergency between June 25, 1975, and March 21, 1977. It's serendipitous that this column is being written exactly on that date, the 48th anniversary of the lifting of the Emergency.

One set of 19 history-defining months out of the way, can you guess what would be the second? I can make it easier for you. Go back to the tenures of our prime ministers. Not Nehru, Indira, Vajpayee, Modi, V.P. Singh, Gowda, Gujral, Charan Singh. None of these.

Since I have already given the riddle away, I will now suggest that we read the just-released biography of Lal Bahadur Shastri, written by eminent former IAS officer-turned-scholar Sanjeev Chopra. I had the honor to be among those speaking at the release of The Great Conciliator: Lal Bahadur Shastri and the transformation of India at the national capital's India International Centre this Tuesday.

Between June 9, 1964, after Jawaharlal Nehru's death, and his own tragic passing at Tashkent on January 11, 1966, Shastri also served for exactly 19 months. And why do we argue that these were as consequential for India's political evolution as the Emergency, if in entirely contrasting ways?

Think of a mere 19 months when India fought a full-fledged war (September 1965), engaged in a localized skirmish with tanks (Kutch April-July 1965), dealt with crippling food shortages, navigated a difficult political transformation, and built more institutions than in any comparable period in our history.