Coming as it did during election time, Sanjay Baru's tell all tale on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his special relationship with Sonia Gandhi has become the talking point during the election campaign. Even though Singh himself has remained silent by and large as he has announced his intention not to seek a third term, the campaign had been focussing more on Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and other current players. Singh has accepted very few invitations to campaign, as he feels the new leadership of the Congress should market itself to the voters.
But the book by his former media adviser has raised many questions and has become the fodder for animated discussion among politicians and pundits. Though Baru says he wants to portray an honest tale of a man who became an accidental prime minister and remained in office for a decade, it is evident that he is settling scores on the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her advisers, whom he feels did not allow Singh a free hand. Baru has many anecdotes to tell on crucial decisions about the government. This columnist was among editors who had asked Singh in October about comments being made by Baru on television channels and newspaper interviews. Singh had cryptically replied "do not believe all that he says".
The Prime Minister's Office has come out strongly against Baru's bare all book. But those in power have to be ready for their close advisers to tell their stories either directly or indirectly. It is a common practice in United States and England. Since 19th century, most British prime minister and ministers have written their memoirs revealing a lot about what happens in the highest seat of government. Among ministers, the most famous was Richard Crossman, who maintained a massive dairy on everything he came across and published it in multiple volumes. Many cabinet colleagues of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair have published memoirs, apart from key members of the team. In England, after election MPs sit by the telephone waiting for a call from the prime minister that they have been made ministers. It is joked that they do two things after receiving the appointment. First, they tell their wives and second, they order a set of blank diaries.
It has been profitable for American presidents, their ministers and aides to write tell all books. Interestingly lot was expected about Bill Clinton's autobiography that he would reveal a lot about his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky which almost cost him the president's job. But Clinton made a brief passing reference and wrote more on his achievements and fights with Republicans. In India, the practice of tell all books is rarer or comes many years after the person in high position retires.
Several officials, including some Keralites who have served with high dignitaries have written books. M O Mathai's diaries of his years with Jawaharlal Nehru were published more than a decade after Nehru's death, and his reference to a love child of India's first prime minister made headlines, but it was proved to be an unsubstantiated claim. B N Tandon, a joint secretary with Indira Gandhi during her years as prime minister published the PMO dairy giving inside details two decades after Indira's death. P C Alexander, who served as principal secretary to both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi published his memories of the years in prime minister's office, which gave an insight into the working style of the prime ministers. S.N. Nair, secretary to president A P J Abdul Kalam too came out with a tell all story about Kalam's confrontations with Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh government. R. Venkataraman after his retirement as president came out with the detailed book called "my presidential years" telling of important decisions he took and also the tours he undertook.
Interestingly, three principal secretaries to prime minister, who handled many sensitive issues, refused to accept hefty advances from publishers to write gossipy books on their bosses. First was A.N. Verma, who was the chief adviser of P V Narasimha Rao for five years. He told friends that he had erased everything from his memory as he was bound by the official secrets act. Satish Chandra, who was principal secretary to H D Deve Gowda and Brijesh Mishra, who was the most powerful man in Vajpayee government as he was both principal secretary and national security adviser, both said no. But Manmohan Singh may not have such reticence of those who worked with him. One cabinet minsiter Aarjun Singh wrote his memoirs, but did not discuss Manmohan Singh much. Arjun Singh focussed more on his years in Madhya Pradesh and his fights with Narasimha Rao. For the present prime minister, some outspoken colleagues might come out with books, but Manmohan Singh would remain stoic as ever. Unless he himself decides to write his own memoir.
Tailpiece: Apart from tell all books, several top bureaucrats have left behind their private papers with the condition that they should be published only after a long cooling period.
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