PMO Diary -1: prelude to the emergency

Civil servants in India usually do not either maintain a diary or write their memoirs. This is proving to be a major void in the source material that historians would like to access. To some extent this Diary fills that gap. It covers the period from November 1974 to August 15, 1975. The author was in the Prime Minister's Secretariat (PMS) as it was known then, as a Joint Secretary dealing mainly with political affairs.

His entries, which were made almost on a daily basis, trace the trajectory of the political crisis that would, on 26 June 1975 overwhelm the country. They take the reader through the major issues of the day and the manner in which the PM and her office dealt with them. In the process, the reader gets an accurate and fascinating glimpse into the persona of Indira Gandhi as well as her working style. The Diary also reveals hitherto untold secrets such as the utilization of government funds for party. It portrays political leaders and others, who became powerful at the time, in their true colours, In so doing, it sets the record straight in a way that has not been done by anyone so far.