Through The Corridors of Power

Title: Through The Corridors of Power – An Insider’s Story

Author: P C Alexander

Publisher: Harper Collins 2004 (First)

ISBN:

Pages: 470

Dr. P C Alexander was a well known figure in Indian politics, having served two prime ministers – Indira and Rajiv – as Principal Secretary and as a well connected man who knew when and how to pull the right strings. His reputation among the public was like the man who always swayed with the wind, causing no friction and becoming the right-hand man of whomever was in power! Alexander climbed the bureaucratic ladder with active support from the Congress party, particularly with Indira Gandhi’s firm clout behind him. He had to resign from Rajiv’s office claiming moral responsibility of a scandal arising out of leakage of official documents from his office to corporate dons. When he took over as the Governor of Maharashtra which was later ruled by the BJP – Shiv Sena combine, he so captivated their admiration that he was even considered for the post of the President of India as BJP candidate! Though adorned the highest chairs of Indian bureaucracy, the author is quite simple and modest in his objectives in writing this book as he says, “My intention in narrating the experiences of my life, both pleasant and bitter, is to convey to the readers in general and to the younger generation in particular, the very important lesson I had learned in life, namely, that if one is firmly committed to certain lofty values and remains determined not to compromise with one’s self-respect, integrity and sense of duty in order to gain short-term advantages, one would not have any cause for regret in the long run” (p.9). Edifying comment certainly it is, but that’s what memoirs are for!

Alexander begins the book, with an episode during his governorship in Maharashtra. This is out of the chronological sequence, but it was put there because he had to state the plain facts behind what went on among the king makers and how he was rejected from the candidacy at the late stages and A P J Abdul Kalam was nominated in his place. Natwar Singh, a noted Congress leader from Rajastan is accused in the book of having conspired against the author. Singh was favourable to K R Narayanan continuing a second term, but the ruling BJP-led NDA was against it. He put forward Krishan Kant, the then Vice President who was acceptable to TDP, but not to BJP. The Congress leaders also came out against Alexander as they feared that he becoming President would nullify the chances of Sonia Gandhi becoming prime minister should the Congress win the next election, because the public may object to both the President and Prime Minister hailing from the Christian community. Abdul Kalam was proposed by Samajwadi Party as a consensus candidate and he eventually became President. This little episode showed in clear detail how the personal rivalries among the politicians taking nasty detours and ending up with disillusionment at both ends.

Alexander joined the civil service in 1948 and quickly moved to the central cadre where real power lay. He became Commerce Secretary during the Emergency and claims to have turned down a request from Col. J S Anand, Sanjay Gandhi’s father-in-law, for an export license! In fact, he doesn’t mention any notable incident during that black period when democracy was briefly eclipsed in India by Indira Gandhi’s ulterior moves. However, the author has enough scorn in store for the Janata government which ousted Indira in the elections in 1977. Relations with the prime minister, Morarji Desai turned sour and Alexander took up a position as the head of the International Trade Centre in Geneva – a wing of the U.N. However, he came back when Indira returned to power in 1980 and accepted her offer as the Principal Secretary in 1981, after Sanjay’s death. He was unwilling to be in that chair during the tenure of the prodigal son! Indira entrusted all matters, political as well as governmental to her secretary. He cleverly manipulated many a cabinet reshuffles and king making. We can discern the coolness with which Indira engineered splits in the ruling parties of Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir to enthrone a puppet politician there.

The book is richly endowed with a detailed and matter of fact narration of the events in Punjab which escalated into a proxy war. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was the head of the Damdami Taksal, a militant Sikh outfit. He was once arrested for the murder of Jagat Narayan, a Hindu leader who criticised the murder of Baba Gurbachan Singh, a Nirankari guru, at the behest of Bhindranwale. There are indications in the book that Giani Zail Singh, then Home minister helped him evade arrest at Chandokalan. Zail Singh also openly declared in the Parliament that Bhindranwale was innocent and he was subsequently freed. He couldn’t have done this without Indira Gandhi’s approval, but Alexander doesn’t say this openly. Bhindranwale resorted to more and more violent ways, and the moderate Akali leaders were marginalized, but were forced to up the ante, for face saving. Things were going out of hand as the Akalis threatened to stop the movement of food grains out of Punjab and refused to pay taxes from June 3, 1984. Indira decided to send in the army to Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of Sikhism, but was made a safe harbour by the terrorists. Though Alexander says she had authorised General A S Vaidya only to lay a siege to the temple, Vaidya convinced Indira after consultations with Lt General Sundarji that a quick commando operation was the only effective way. The commando action failed soon since they failed to factor in the strength of the entrenched extremists. Heavy artillery was used to take out the holed up terrorists, causing immense damage to Akal Takht, but killing Bhindranwale nevertheless. Alexander puts all the blame on Gen Vaidya for bungling on the issue, and overriding Indira’s instructions. In fact, in the long chapter on the Akali agitation covering almost 1/5^th of the book, he puts Indira mainly on the backstage in the role of a benevolent administrator intent on obtaining a peaceful resolution of the vexatious issue. The readers however get the impression that the author is not truthful in this episode.

The author continued as the Principal Secretary to Rajiv Gandhi, who assumed office after his mother’s assassination. Just 3 months later, Alexander had to resign, claiming moral responsibility to the leakage of official documents from his office to corporate bodies. He ended his political career as the Governor of Maharashtra, after ruling Tamil Nadu as Governor and administering the Indian mission to the U.K.

The book is unusually clear in the narration of the happenings in the citadels of power as it is backed up with first hand information of the inner workings of the machinery. Another plus point is the precise description of the events in Punjab which culminated in Operation Bluestar.  On the downside, Alexander has tried every trick up his sleeve to exonerate Indira from the mess she had made with her undemocratic style of functioning which was appealing only for her sycophants.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 3 Star