Indira Gandhi Tryst With Power by Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi had a highly independent way of living and used power in an unconventional way. Nayantara Sahgal makes a strong case in this book that Indira’s temperament and personality made her an authoritarian. Her leadership signaled a significant departure from Indian politics and her family’s democratic heritage. India’s political climate changed significantly under her rule.
The Emergency of 1975–1977 served to elevate her son Sanjay to the position of her heir apparent. Following Sanjay’s passing, Indira’s oldest son Rajiv entered politics and quickly rose to prominence, demonstrating her fundamental confidence in her family’s right to rule.
Indira Gandhi’s Tryst With Power
Nayantara Sahgal’s knowledge of her cousin, in combination with her unparalleled access to letters exchanged between Nehru and her mother, Vijaylakshmi Pandit, makes for an unusually penetrating psychological and political portrait from an intimate family viewpoint.