India Foundation, in collaboration with India Habitat Centre, organised a book discussion on ‘How Prime Ministers Decide’, authored by Ms Neerja Chowdhury, Author and Journalist, in New Delhi, on 07 October 2024. Shri Sanjaya Baru, Political Commentator and Former Media Advisor to Prime Minister of India and Shri Kanchan Gupta, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, were the other discussants who delivered their remarks on the book and the Indian government system. The session was moderated by Capt. Alok Bansal, Director, India Foundation.
Ms Neerja Chowdhury analysed through her book the decision making of six prime ministers of India through the prism of their six historic decisions. The six prime ministers include Ms Indira Gandhi, Shri Rajiv Gandhi, Shri V.P. Singh, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, Shri A. B. Vajpayee and Shri Manmohan Singh. Shri Sanjaya Baru threw light on the facets of political journalism, and how in earlier times, journalism insisted on getting facts on record. He highlighted the decision making power of the Prime Ministers and their reflections to give a ringside view of the politics during their tenure. He pointed out two striking aspects from the book, firstly, the prime ministerial decision making approach was ad hoc in the moment and was irrespective of the prime minister concerned and secondly, the realisation that India is essentially a coalition and should be run by consensus. Shri Kanchan Gupta spoke about the current wave of people’s expectations more from the individual than the government and referred to the ‘one nation one election’ campaign that signifies the need to relook at the arrangement of governance in India. He also highlighted the decision making approach of Shri A B Vajpayee and Shri Narendra Modi, especially on Kashmir.
