Comments
The self-deprecatory tone of the title of this book says it all about the author. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1956 and ended his public life as the governor of Tamil Nadu in 2004. It’s almost like a classic log cabin to White House story.
Rao tells many stories from his long career in this very important book which should be in all libraries. Each story has a little moral of its own, not the least of which in the current context is his advice to governors and chief ministers that they should avoid confrontations with the state government.
He was faced with the prospect of one such almost immediately after he took over as governor. He had to make his first speech to the Assembly. Jayalalithaa was the chief minister. She sent a draft of the governor’s opening speech to him.
He says it was very intemperate and he wanted to edit it. His secretary said he had to deliver it as it was. So he asked the chief minister if he could edit it. Fortunately for him she agreed.
The governor of a state is also the chancellor of the public universities in the state. In this capacity also he has a few differences of opinion with the government and it’s instructive to read how non-confrontationally he managed these differences. There is a lesson here for the present day for both governors and chief ministers.
Rao, during his time as a police officer of Andhra, headed the intelligence department of AP police and later the AP police. He also spent a long time on deputation to the Intelligence Bureau.
He recounts some interesting incidents that highlight the interface between politics and the police. The role of intelligence departments is well-known and from the point of view of future historians this book adds a lot of hitherto unknown details especially about the politics of Andhra.
Names from history float by and the reader gets a clear sense of what was actually going on. It’s always a surprise to read how much is not known about the main dramatis personae and their activities.
The role of caste comes in for frequent discussion. Indeed, Rao thinks many decisions of political and administrative governance are influenced by it. He had a ringside view of it all.
Funny, strange stories
There are many funny and strange stories also. One involves the President, VV Giri who was in a hurry and signed an ordinance before the Cabinet had approved it. Or so it was widely believed at the time.
Another is about NT Rama Rao when he was chief minister. The Congress party, which he had defeated, held a large demonstration. It wanted to present a memorandum to him in his office.
NTR refused and, instead, lay down on the road. He stayed there for a long time and then suddenly got up, snatched the memorandum from the hands of a Congress worker, got into his car and drove off home. The agitators were nonplussed and nearly withdrew their agitation.
The chapter on his resignation as governor is also fascinating for the way governments manage these tricky issues. In his case it was a three cornered affair between the DMK, AIADMK and the Congress at the Centre.
The details he provides of the events leading to his resignation are very revealing. Rao makes the important point that successive governments have treated governors as government servants which they emphatically are not.
Governance issues
In the concluding chapter he reflects on current governance problems. A worrying point he makes is how the All India Services have been marginalised by the chief ministers.
There is an important lesson here because of the impossibility of restoring the old role of the IAS and the IPS. Both have become subservient to politicians. He says the role of bureaucrats in raising funds for political parties has now virtually disappeared. It’s been replaced by tweaking policy and rules to help friendly admirers in the business world.
Finally, Mr Rao makes a very interesting political observation that the Brahmins, the Muslims, the scheduled castes and the Christians have an all-India presence whereas the other castes are wholly regional.
It was in recognition of this, he says, that in 1969 Indira Gandhi set up a sub-committee at the very first meeting of her newly-formed Congress (Indira). Its aim was to forge an alliance between them.
So successful was this attempt that, he says, the Congress (I) ruled almost uninterrupted from 1969 to 1989.
Check out the book on Amazon
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.