Kidwai - Revised and Updated: A Short History of the People behind the Fall and Rise of the Congress 24 Akbar Road

The tag of Rasheed Kidwais bookhides what is in fact an absorbing tale rather than a scholarly history, written as it is in a racy style [A]n enjoyable read. Outlook

The book gives you a broad understanding of how the Congress functions. Businessworld

Here is the stuff of fiction, found in real men and women who matter from manipulation and intrigue to assertions of power, from the hum drum details of life to the pinnacles of tragedy. Telegraph

24 Akbar Road is a breezy account of the Congress in the years of Indira Gandhi and her successors. Tehelka

It is a book that will be a talking point in Congress circles and beyond for a long time to come. Hindustan Times

Using the Congress seat of power at 24 Akbar Road as his vantage, author Rasheed Kidwai draws a compelling account of the rule both backseat and forefront from Indira, Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi to Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri, to the present-day trinity of Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi. Financial Express

Rasheed Kidwai, over many years of journalistic reportage and a close study of its affairs, has put together an incisive and engaging account of the Congresss shape-shifting nature and its tenuous hold at the Centre, providing a dispassionate observers glance at affairs within the Congress. The Hindu

If political gossip turns you on, go for this book. Times of India Crest Edition

A Short History of the People behind the Fall and Rise of the Congress

Revised and Updated Edition

Rasheed Kidwai

First published in India in 2011 by Hachette India

(Registered name: Hachette Book Publishing India Pvt. Ltd)

An Hachette UK company

www.hachetteindia.com

This ebook published in 2013

Copyright 2011, 2013 Rasheed Kidwai

Rasheed Kidwai asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

Photograph on p.ii courtesy Sanjay Nahar

All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system (including but not limited to computers, disks, external drives, electronic or digital devices, e-readers, websites), or transmitted in any form or by any means (including but not limited to cyclostyling, photocopying, docutech or other reprographic reproductions, mechanical, recording, electronic, digital versions)without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

The views and opinions expressed in this book are the authors and the facts are as reported by him. The publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

Print Edition ISBN 978-93-5009-750-2

Ebook Edition ISBN 978-93-5009-373-3

Hachette Book Publishing India Pvt. Ltd

4th/5th Floors, Corporate Centre,

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Typeset in ITC Giovanni 10.5/13

by InoSoft Systems, Noida

For Abbu my father, Abdul Aleem Kidwai

T wo years ago, when I wrote a foreword to the first edition of Rasheed Kidwais fine book, 24 Akbar Road, I had ended it by saying: Maybe, 24 Akbar Road is an appropriate address for the Congress. The greatest Mughal emperor was the flag-bearer of a dynasty that endured over time. The Congress is like the Mughal empire its line of succession pre-ordained. Two years later, I hate to triumphally suggest I told you so, but the ascent of Rahul Gandhi to the vice-presidency of the Congress is confirmation of the dynastical principle in the party of the freedom movement.

Rahul has yet to prove his political mettle. His one attempt at becoming the face of the Congress campaign in Uttar Pradesh in 2012 was a mini-disaster: the Congress finished a distant fourth. Stunned by the defeat, Rahul appeared to have withdrawn from the heat of battle. He has rejected repeated calls for him to take a ministerial berth or pitch himself as the partys candidate for the prime-ministership. But call it desperation, or good old-fashioned sycophancy, Congressmen appear determined to push Rahuls credentials for the top job. Even a reluctant prince it appears is a better option than anyone else who may have served the party for decades. Why has the party of the Mahatma become almost a family property? Is the NehruGandhi family badge its sole calling card today? Is the Congress no longer a party of mass leaders but simply a cabal of manipulators?

Kidwais book doesnt seek to provide all the answers. But the writer attempts to fill a gap in contemporary politics by documenting the behind-the-scenes machinations of a post-Jawaharlal Congress. This book is not an academic treatise, but is a racy, well-reported thriller, written by a journalist who has closely tracked the Congress for several years now.

Reporting on the Congress is not easy. The BJP has always been a media-friendly party: you could even argue that the BJP has consciously cultivated the media to make itself more politically acceptable. The Congress, as a natural party of power, by contrast, has been more elitist, maintaining a certain distance from the media. This might be partly explained by its ubiquitous high command culture, which somehow conveys an impression of imperious grandeur and isolationist splendour. This may not have been true of the NehruRajiv era, but is certainly the case with the Age of Sonia where the party leader prefers giving the occasional, well-choreographed sound bite even while the heir apparent Rahul has not given a single detailed one-on-one interview yet. It is almost as if there is this wall of silence which has been crafted around the Congress leadership with little space for anyone to raise uncomfortable questions.

As a result, reporting on the Congress is a bit like attempting to enter a closed, privileged circle. The few who manage to sneak in are expected to be suitably reverential to the leadership while those who are more critical are often denied access. Kidwai attempts to strike a fine balance never easy to do for a journalist on the beat. At one level, his book is undoubtedly sympathetic to the Congress; at another level, he does make an attempt to provide a dispassionate observers glance at affairs within the Congress palace with 24 Akbar Road as the central courtyard.

The journalistic curiosity leads to several interesting anecdotes being brought out of the inner recesses of the power elite. For example, there is this wonderful story of Rajiv Gandhi and Amitabh Bachchan meeting legendary comedian Mehmood in the late 1960s. Amitabh is looking to make a mark in films: Mehmood is impressed, but not with Amitabh as much as the young Rajiv whom he finds fair and good looking and wants to sign up for a film role!

Indeed, the relationship between the Gandhis and the Bachchans has always been a source of endless political gossip. Kidwai provides the intricate details to the reader in a manner that makes that particular episode a real page-turner. Kidwais earlier biography on Sonia Gandhi has given him a rare insight into the mind and working of one of Indias most fascinating politicians. The rise of Sonia is well-captured, although just why she finally gave up her reluctance to enter formal politics is never fully explained or analyzed. Perhaps thats because the author, perhaps consciously, stays away from editorial comment and analysis. This is both a weakness of the book, and maybe even a strength, because one is spared the usual political gyaan.