Nobody Would Have Been Interested in Book Post-Polls: Sanjaya Baru

Mumbai: Sanjaya Baru, former media advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Wednesday said he was advised to release his book before the general elections as it would not have any significance later.

"A lot of my friends whom I consulted told me that Manmohan Singh will be history after the elections. Nobody will be interested in him then," Mr Baru said, at the launch of the book "The Accidental Prime Minister" in Mumbai.

In reply to a question, Mr Baru said that former Prime Minister Narsimha Rao "believed that the Congress should have a life beyond the (Gandhi) family" which "went against him" (in the eyes of Congress president Sonia Gandhi)."

"I feel Narsimha Rao deserved a memorial in Delhi. It was a vendetta against him," Mr Baru added.

He also said Congress President Sonia Gandhi did not become Prime Minister (in 2004) as the Congress' allies would have never accepted her, so she chose Dr Manmohan Singh.

"She couldn't make another political person the Prime Minister because she had burnt her fingers with Narsimha Rao," Mr Baru added.

When asked if he would take up a job in the Prime Minister's Office if offered by BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Mr Baru said, "There is no way I will go back to politics. I have no political ambitions but will keep writing books. I have never gone back to a job I have left. It would be insulting for me."

To the question why Dr Singh did not take a stand against the wrongdoings on his watch, as he took one in the case of Indo-US nuclear deal, Mr Baru said his (Dr Singh's) legacy was at stake on the nuclear deal, while it was not the same case on other issues.

"Indo-US deal was approved by the Cabinet and India's reputation was at stake then. None would have taken India seriously had that deal not gone through. Singh viewed that it was only this decision for which he would be remembered," Mr Baru said.

He also commented that business was not the focus in UPA-1. "India was growing at an average of 8.5 per cent for six years and hence business and industries were not the focus of the Prime Minister."

Mr Baru also maintained that though Mr Singh himself once called himself the "accidental PM", "I believed otherwise. In my book, I have been a strong defendant of Singh." (Row over book by PM's former media advisor Sanjaya Baru)