NEW LIGHT ON FORGOTTEN STATESMAN

GANDHI’S CONSCIENCE KEEPER
C. RAJAGOPALACHARI AND INDIAN POLITICS
by Vasanthi Srinivasan

'Dr Srinivasan’s study is a tour-de-force, exhibiting all the signs of a mature thinker who is confident of her intellectual and spiritual bearings' Peter Emberley

'This work will be widely appreciated and will also set off useful debates' Rajmohan Gandhi

Hailed by Mahatma Gandhi as his conscience keeper, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878–1972; better known as Rajaji) epitomized the practical wisdom, religious tolerance, and statesmanship that Gandhi brought to the nationalist movement.

Vasanthi Srinivasan presents Rajaji’s vision as that of a theocentric liberal. Examining his political ideas and actions alongside his literary works, as well as in relation to statesmen-ideologues such as Nehru and Periyar, she shows how Rajaji steered clear of ideological dogma and charted an ethic of responsibility.

VASANTHI SRINIVASAN is a Reader in Political Science at the University of Hyderabad.

ISBN 81-7824-246-1 / Hardback / 290pp / Rs 695 / published in association with the New India Foundation / January 2009

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