Before the Emergency

Political developments as have unfolded in independent India have often been seen as an outcome of policy shifts in an earlier period

These days, the academic and journalistic worlds have an engaging subject for discussion: How similar or dissimilar are the political tactics of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and the incumbent, Narendra Modi? If Mrs Gandhi tamed the “syndicate” (a band of veteran Congress leaders), nationalised banks, devalued the rupee, abolished the privy purse, and sliced up Pakistan into two, Mr Modi demonetised the rupee, carved the state of Jammu and Kashmir by creating two Union Territories, abolished “Triple Talaq”, and conducted “surgical strikes” against Pakistan. After Mrs Gandhi, Mr Modi is arguably the only prime minister to have assumed a