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A MUDDIED POLITICAL STORY TOLD ENCHANTINGLY

olitical biographies Ashwini Bhatnagar’s The Lotus Years observes, leading to Rajiv assuming
are either too dull records and reports the story of the tumultuous full charge of his political
because of the inheritance.
P ragged excavated 1980 decade with Rajiv Gandhi at its centre, The book then details
personal and public life de- writes MUDIT MATHUR Rajiv’s style of functioning
tails contained in them or are and the resistance to it from
undiluted eulogies dedicated veteran Congressmen. The
to the subject of the book. political goings –on in the po- nected lifestyles we live today mechanization of many of
It is therefore rarely that a litically sensitive and critical and the India that has turned them to assert their politi-
biography emerges which state of Uttar Pradesh. aspirational to its very core.” cal importance is narrated
successfully meshes the pri- He could therefore In fact, the biography is through several anecdotes.
vate person and his public life observe, record and report engagingly written using These stories bring to life
with the headlong on rush of on the political play which anecdotes that reel out at an the motivations of several
critical political players, era culminated in several critical interesting pace to give the prominent politicians who
defining events and the di- events at the national level. reader a 360-degree view on did what they did during
lemmas of decision-making. He was also one–on-one with not only Rajiv Gandhi –the those years.
While a few biographies do the key players both in the man and PM — but also on The author engages the
manage to provide insights Congress and in the Opposi- the entire spectrum of politi- reader with a host of promi-
on some of these elements, tion. Much of the material cal life during that tumultu- nent personalities of that
a majority of them are con- of his book comes from this ous decade. time. They include Amitabh
strained by the sweep of the personal access and has The first few chapters set Bachchan, Arun Nehru,
author’s vision on the scope largely not been in public the context through very Pranab Mukherjee, Vishwa-
and character of the book. It domain. readable descriptions of nath Pratap Singh, Kamlapati
either weighs in too heavily That Bhatnagar has an Rajiv’s personal life dur- Tripathi, AR Antulay, Veer
on his person or his persona. inimitable style of story-tell- ing the early years: Sanjay Bahadur Singh, at al on the
Ashwini Bhatnagar’s The ing, even one as complicated Gandhi’s rise to power and Congress side; and Chandra
Lotus Years skillfully skips as this one, without being his untimely death in a plane Shekhar, Devi Lal, Lal Krishan
over these pitfalls and nar- partisan is reflected from the crash, the frostiness between Advani, Atal Behari Vajpayee,
rates the story of the tumul- opening chapter of the book the core members of the Charan Singh, HN Bahuguna,
tuous 1980 decade with Rajiv itself in which he narrates family thereafter and the as- etc. from the Opposition.
Gandhi at its centre. That the his first interview with Rajiv sassination of Indira Gandhi Fairfax and Bofors feature
biography employs creative Gandhi. The interview was prominently but here too
intelligence in its writing published in The Pioneer and Bhatnagar has brought in an
is evident from the title of was perhaps among the first THE LOTUS intriguing twist through a
the book itself — The Lotus ones which was coaxed out of YEARS: largely unknown fact. Read
Years. It is a flirtatious way of him. The punch line of the in- POLITICAL LIFE the pages on sacking of VP
IN INDIA IN THE
locating the Man From The terview ‘mummy se puchiye’ TIME OF RAJIV Singh from Rajiv’s ministry.
Dynasty via a synonym of clearly delineates what Rajiv GANDHI Ashwini sums up Rajiv’s
his name (the other word in was as a political greenhorn BY: ASHWINIBHAT- political life thus: “Rajiv had
NAGAR
Hindi for Rajiv is Kamal i.e. and how he went on to leave HACHETTE INDIA wanted a second chance. He
lotus) to the current political a legacy that “defines the con- 320PP; 499 probably deserved a second
dispensation. The title indeed chance too … he was but a
provokes curiosity and draws step away from (it) …But poli-
the reader to the book at the tics, it was now certain, did
very first glance. not agree with him. Destiny’s
Bhatnagar was at The cruel sleight of hand had
Times of India, Lucknow, as pushed him into it, and in
a political correspondent another cruel twist, took it
between 1980 and 1990, the away fro it in the most defi-
period of Rajiv Gandhi’s short nite way. In between, Rajiv
political life that the book was an incandescent flash of
covers. The posting provided energy that propelled India to
him with the opportunity the very doorstep of the 21st
to not only know Rajiv from century.”
close quarters but it also gave
him a ringside view of the LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM