Strong man with feet of clay

Thirunellai Narayana Seshan's posthumously published autobiography reflects on his impactful career, enduring reforms, and reminds us that even strong leaders are fallible

Through the Broken Glass – An Autobiography

Author: T N Seshan

Publisher: Rupa

Pages: 357+Viii

Price: Rs 795

In his autobiography, Thirunellai Narayana Seshan (or T N Seshan as India’s intrepid Chief Election Commissioner, or CEC, came to be better known) is candid in admitting that many would call him an Alsatian behind his back. This reviewer was witness to an incident that will perhaps explain why Seshan had acquired that uncomplimentary label as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. 

In the late 1980s, as Cabinet Secretary in the Rajiv Gandhi government, Seshan would hold a monthly media briefing on the weekend, where secretaries of major ministries would also be present. On one such Saturday evening, at the end of the media briefing, he ordered a secretary to submit a detailed note on a policy matter by nine the next morning. The nonplussed secretary hummed and hawed before mumbling that the next morning was a Sunday. With an impish smile, Seshan looked around to make sure that the secretary was suitably embarrassed and shot back: Well, in that case, you give the note to me by Monday 9 a m. 

It would appear from Seshan’s autobiography, published posthumously, almost four years after his death, that he became a difficult boss over the years after joining the IAS and rising up the ladder. As a young boy, he would literally burn the midnight oil to study hard for his exams. Once he became so dazed after studying all night before one of those exams that Seshan realised, upon reaching home after the test, that he had submitted his question paper (which those days had to be scribbled down on a piece of paper) to the invigilators, instead of the answer sheet. He paid a price for that carelessness but continued to pull all-nighters before exams, even when he took the IAS entrance test.

Once he was an IAS officer, he showed signs of the resolute and bold character for which he became publicly famous. He even became a little adventurous, driving a bus in Madras with a licence obtained for that purpose, while in charge of the transport department to prove a point to his junior colleagues. That streak, it becomes clear from his autobiographical account, did not desert him in the following years.

The autobiography, however, glosses over the significant role he played as the secretary in the ministry of environment and forests under the Rajiv Gandhi government from 1985 to 1988. This is surprising as his role in ensuring the effective implementation of the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986, defining eco-sensitive zones across the country, promoting the idea of water harvesting and launching a policy to regenerate forest lands for conserving biodiversity was path-breaking. His role as the defence secretary also receives scant attention even though two major defence scandals erupted under his charge.

A year before he completed his tenure as the CEC in December 1996, Seshan brought out two books in quick succession —A Heart Full of Burden and The Degeneration of India.  Both books vented Seshan’s angst over what he believed went wrong with India’s administration and the challenges in fixing this broken system. Little did those books recognise the author’s own contribution in heralding a new era in reforming the electoral system.

In contrast, his autobiography provides a detailed account of how as the CEC he took on the political establishment to restore the Election Commission’s status and power enshrined in the Constitution. He won many battles, such as securing his power to hold or defer an election if the conditions were not conducive or the introduction of voter’s identity cards or even the early steps that eventually led to the use of electronic voting machines from 1998 onwards. 

He held his own by conducting a controversial by-election in Etawah even as the ruling dispensation was keen on its postponement for political reasons. He faced the threat of impeachment — a demand voiced by quite a few Opposition political parties — but emerged unscathed.

But he also lost a few important battles. His biggest setback was in 1993 when the Narasimha Rao government succeeded in installing two more election commissioners and forced a democratic decision-making process at the Election Commission to allay the fears of one CEC taking all the decisions almost unilaterally. With the expertise of an accomplished storyteller, Seshan recounts how the two new election commissioners — G V G Krishnamurty and M S Gill — were appointed and how his dramatic encounter with them took place in his room.

Seated in his chair, Seshan wanted to shake hands with Krishnamurty, who refused to extend his hand, saying that he would shake hands provided the two sat on the visitors’ sofa. Gill did not take the seat meant for visitors either, signalling to Seshan that the three were of equal rank. In spite of such acrimony, there was, however, no loss of momentum in electoral reforms as a result of the appointment of the two election commissioners.

In his personal life, Seshan appeared to be deeply religious. When the offer came from the Chandra Shekhar government to him to become the CEC, Seshan consulted Rajiv Gandhi and R Venkataraman, who was then the President, but he accepted the offer only when the green signal came from the seer of Kanchipuram. Even when a United Nations job offer came up, Seshan declined on the advice of the same seer. For attending the seer’s cremation the CEC courted controversy by using a private aircraft from the Ambanis for which he confesses to having paid Rs 96,000.

Written in elegant prose and relying extensively on published media reports as well as interviews, Seshan’s autobiography underlines the old adage that even strong leaders can have feet of clay.