Stop blaming Nehru: Real question is why India didn't change course after him

While his policies were flawed, successors deepened socialist model and failed to reform; India's delayed catch-up a collective failure

More than 60 years after his death, Nehru is still being blamed for many of India’s problems and ills. In his latest book, The Nehru-Era Economic History and Thought & Their Lasting Impact, Arvind Panagariya rehearses all of Jawaharlal Nehru’s economic mistakes, but then goes on to show that they had a lasting impact that was hard for those who came after him to reverse. While it is true that Nehru, as the country’s first Prime Minister, made many mistakes in his economic policies, the Nehru-bashing has gone too far. 

First, by the time Nehru left