KT: Swapan Dasgupta, it’s interesting that Mani Aiyar has spoken of the emphasis on the poor because another conclusion from Crocker’s book is that if you compare between ’47 when Nehru first came to power and ’64 when he died, Crocker says, "The people of India were not better-fed or housed and were more corruptly governed. The other thing that has enduring is his accent and emphasis on the poor, which despite many changes of economic policy still remains a primary concern. It is primarily the conception of India as a nation of diversity and its unity arising from that diversity. The fundamental things about India in which Nehru played a very major role have remained in place. Mani Shankar Aiyar: That’s a fair assessment. The future is likely to show that the roots did not strike deep.” He writes: “Nehru’s rule will leave some mark on India but not as much as expected. Let me quote to you one of the conclusions from Cricker’s biography of the man. Karan Thapar: Mani Shankar Aiyar, you’re an unabashed admirer of Nehru. Looking back at Jawaharlal Nehru, through the eyes of Walter Crocker, a former High Commissioner of Australia, whose prophetic out-of-print book Nehru: A Contemporary’s Estimate, has been republished, Karan Thapar asked Minister of Panchayati Raj Mani Shankar Aiyar, columnist Swapan Dasgupta, historian Ramachandra Guha and Business Standard editor, TN Ninan how much India owes its first Prime Minister.
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