President Pranab Mukherjee in Vrindavan. (Press Trust of India)
President Pranab Mukherjee has written books before but his latest - the first since he took office in 2012 - could be the best selling yet. The book, the first of three volumes, will be out in December.
Mr Mukherjee's publisher Rupa said in a press release today that the book,
The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Years, "chronicles the history of India from the perspective of a parliamentarian and statesman par excellence."
This volume, the publisher said, focuses on the 1970s. "This was when India found itself engaging with the true meaning of democracy. The nation displayed its commitment to liberty by extending full support to East Pakistan's struggle for independence. Later, between 1975 and 1977, during the Emergency, India was grappling with the limits of personal expression. Finally, in 1977, the country saw the emergence of the politics of coalition, with the Janata Party- an amalgam of Indian parties opposed to the Emergency, comprising the Congress (O), the Bharatiya Lok Dal, the Jana Sangh and the Socialists-coming to power.This was a turning point in the history of the Indian legislature," the statement says.
Pranab Mukherjee had a ringside view to the turbulent and game-changing political events of the decade. He had made his debut in national politics in 1969 as a Rajya Sabha MP of the Congress and by 1973, was a minister in the Indira Gandhi cabinet. He was seen as a key Indira lieutenant.
The publisher says the book draws from "personal diary extracts, conversations with key players of the 1970s, and vital secondary literature" to present "an exceptional portrait of a complex nation."
In the book, the President writes about the clamour for Mrs Gandhi's mid-term resignation in the Emergency years, "Which democracy in the world would permit a change of a popularly and freely elected government through means other than a popular election? Can parties beaten at the hustings replace a popularly elected government by sheer agitation? Was it not prudent for those who were determined to change the government to wait till the elections which were but round the corner? Does the rule of law mean that the remedies available to the common man are to be denied to someone holding an elected office? [...] How could anybody replace her when the overwhelming majority of Congress MPs - with a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha - resolved that Indira Gandhi should continue as the party's leader in Parliament and thereby as the Prime Minister of India?"
Mr Mukherjee took over as President of India on July 25, 2012. He served in top portfolios like Foreign, Defence and Finance during Congress regimes and for many years was also his party's chief troubleshooter especially in handling the compulsions of coalition politics.
Even political rivals acknowledge his role as a consensus builder not just among difficult allies but also opposition parties.
He also enjoys the reputation of having been one of India's best and most astute Parliamentarians, with decades of experience as both a Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha member.