My Life and Politics

This is a deceptively simple autobiographical account of one of independent India’s most respected political leaders. Documenting events which made history in twentieth century India with a clear-eyed assessment, Nijlingappa recreates an era when politics was imbued with the ideal and passion of the freedom struggle and a galaxy of visionary political leaders shaped the destiny of India. Nijalingappa’s life-story also spans the last quarter of the twentieth century when, in striking contrast, relative pygmies pre-occupied with self-interest took political centre-stage. Born in a poor village family in Karnataka, Nijalingappa became a successful advocate by dint of hard work and long struggle. He was one of the early leaders of Mysore Congress. His political activism eventually led to his imprisonment and disbarment from legal practice. Then followed a tumultuous political career of ups and downs for the next several decades as he grew to national stature and a powerful player in Congress politics. Nijalingappa served variously as president of Mysore Congress and a member of the historic Constituent Assembly which also crafted the Indian Constitution. Later, he became the first chief minister of the re-organised Mysore state in 1956. Nijalingappa’s term as Congress president (1968-71) was marked by the historic Congress split when Indira Gandhi sought to become both the supreme political leader of the country and the undisputed overlord of the party. Nijalingappa lays bare the inner tug-of-war of this struggle. Nijalingappa has many other revealing tales to tell as well: Why Nehru was the wrong choice to be India’s prime minister, How Lal Bahadur Shastri was secretly anointed as Nehru’s successor much before the latter’s death, What prompted the election of Indira Gandhi as prime minister, The infamous Emergency period, How Sanjeeva Reddy’s personal antipathy to Morarji Desai probably led to the premature collapse of the Janata Party government.