After Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984, the Congress swept to power. Her son Rajiv Gandhi took over as the Prime Minister, but he too was assassinated in 1991.

With the key members of the Gandhi family gone, the Congress went through many changes. The country’s polity, too, saw a churn, heralding the era of coalitions and marking the “end of the Congress epoch in Indian politics”.

Political scientist Zoya Hasan in her new book, Congress After Indira , chronicles the changes in policy, power and politics in the country, with focus on the party in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination, especially the “dualist structure” of its present leadership.

The 304-page book, brought out by Oxford University Press, was launched here on Tuesday, timed with the 28th death anniversary of Indira Gandhi. In the book, Hasan studies in detail the Congress party’s journey from 1984 to 2009, such as the Ayodhya and Shah Bano controversies, economic liberalisation since the early 90s, the massive social inequalities, the status of minorities, the Indo-US nuclear deal etc., an OUP release said.

Hasan also delves on the emergence of coalitions, with Congress heading two United Progressive Alliance governments with different partners, and discusses “the two power centres and the division of power between the prime minister and party president”.

The book’s launch was followed by a panel discussion on the Congress party by writer Hasan, former adviser to the Prime Minister, Harish Khare, senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and political scientist, Rajeev Bhargava. Among those who attended were senior Congress leader, Mani Shankar Aiyer, former Chief Election Comissioner, S.Y Qureshi and former Editor-in chief, Outlook, Vinod Mehta.   

aditi.n@thehindu.co.in

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