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The great conciliator : Lal Bahadur Shastri and the transformation of India / Sanjeev Chopra.

By: Publisher: New Delhi : Bloomsbury India, 2025Description: xviii, 369 pagesContent type:
  • text
ISBN:
  • 9789356408852 (hbk)
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 954.035
Contents:
Prologue - 1. Mughalsarai: Circa 1900 - 2. The Glamour of Pax Britannica - 3. Benares, Harishchandra High School and Nihkameshwar Mishra - 4. Kashi Vidyapeeth: 1921-25 - 5. Servants of the People Society - 6. Grihastha Ashram - 7. Allahabad - 8. The Youngest General Secretary of UPPCC - 9. Shastri as a Legislator - 10. Lull Before the Storm: Individual Satyagraha and the Quit India Movement - 11. The Quit India Movement - 12. Parliamentary Secretary and Minister under G.B. Pant - 13. New Delhi - 14. The Helmsman of the Railways - 15. Three Portfolios in Nehru’s Third Ministry - 16. Indias Dangerous Decades - 17. Dragon at the Doorstep - 18. The Kamaraj Plan - 19. Minister Without Portfolio - 20. The End of Nehru's Era - 21. Shastri's India Versus Ayubs Pakistan - 22. Jai Kisan - 23. The White Revolution and Shastri - 24. The Difficult Reconciliation on Language - 25. On the World Stage - 26, Administrative Reforms and Institutional Innovations - 27. No Confidence Motions - 28. Rann of Kutch and the Formation of the BSF - 29, Foiling the Infiltration - 30. Towards Lahore - 31. Chinese Checkers - 32. Ceasefire: Shastri's Moral and Semantic Victory in the UNSC - 33. The Finest Hour - 34. The Tashkent Agreement - 35. Tragedy Follows Triumph - Notes - Bibliography - Index - About the Author.
Summary: Lal Bahadur Shastri, a man of slight stature, took a larger-than-life stand as India's prime minister. A man of few words, his correspondence was to the point, his speeches succinct. His silence, which some understood as willingness to acquiesce, was both a strength and a weakness. But in fact, during his short term of just about eighteen months, he established institutions that brought India on the path of self-sufficiency and helped defend against external aggression. Prime Minister Shastri galvanized the nation with his slogan 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan', recognizing the farmers for contributing to both food and national security. He is credited with laying the foundation of the Green Revolution, providing an institutional format to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and the Food Corporation of India, and establishing the National Dairy Development Board. Shastri is also strongly etched in public memory as the first Indian prime minister to direct the army to cross the border. To his leadership therefore goes the credit for the first 'surgical strike'. He established key national and domestic security organizations like the Border Security Force and the Central Bureau of Investigation. In The Great Conciliator, Sanjeev Chopra draws on meticulous research to turn the spotlight on an often overlooked figure in Indian politics and makes a case for reassessing the legacy of India's unassuming second prime minister.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Notes Barcode
BOOKs . Circulation Counter 954.035 CHO (Browse shelf(Opens below)) HB Not For Loan Recommended by Prof. Srikrishna Ayyangar 40565

Prologue -
1. Mughalsarai: Circa 1900 -
2. The Glamour of Pax Britannica -
3. Benares, Harishchandra High School and Nihkameshwar Mishra -
4. Kashi Vidyapeeth: 1921-25 -
5. Servants of the People Society -
6. Grihastha Ashram -
7. Allahabad -
8. The Youngest General Secretary of UPPCC -
9. Shastri as a Legislator -
10. Lull Before the Storm: Individual Satyagraha and the Quit India Movement -
11. The Quit India Movement -
12. Parliamentary Secretary and Minister under G.B. Pant -
13. New Delhi -
14. The Helmsman of the Railways -
15. Three Portfolios in Nehru’s Third Ministry -
16. Indias Dangerous Decades -
17. Dragon at the Doorstep -
18. The Kamaraj Plan -
19. Minister Without Portfolio -
20. The End of Nehru's Era -
21. Shastri's India Versus Ayubs Pakistan -
22. Jai Kisan -
23. The White Revolution and Shastri -
24. The Difficult Reconciliation on Language -
25. On the World Stage -
26, Administrative Reforms and Institutional Innovations -
27. No Confidence Motions -
28. Rann of Kutch and the Formation of the BSF -
29, Foiling the Infiltration -
30. Towards Lahore -
31. Chinese Checkers -
32. Ceasefire: Shastri's Moral and Semantic Victory in the UNSC -
33. The Finest Hour -
34. The Tashkent Agreement -
35. Tragedy Follows Triumph -
Notes -
Bibliography -
Index -
About the Author.

Lal Bahadur Shastri, a man of slight stature, took a larger-than-life stand as India's prime minister. A man of few words, his correspondence was to the point, his speeches succinct. His silence, which some understood as willingness to acquiesce, was both a strength and a weakness. But in fact, during his short term of just about eighteen months, he established institutions that brought India on the path of self-sufficiency and helped defend against external aggression.
Prime Minister Shastri galvanized the nation with his slogan 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan', recognizing the farmers for contributing to both food and national security. He is credited with laying the foundation of the Green Revolution, providing an institutional format to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and the Food Corporation of India, and establishing the National Dairy Development Board.
Shastri is also strongly etched in public memory as the first Indian prime minister to direct the army to cross the border. To his leadership therefore goes the credit for the first 'surgical strike'. He established key national and domestic security organizations like the Border Security Force and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In The Great Conciliator, Sanjeev Chopra draws on meticulous research to turn the spotlight on an often overlooked figure in Indian politics and makes a case for reassessing the legacy of India's unassuming second prime minister.