Online published on 6 September, 2018.
This paper evaluates the art and craft of policymaking. It focuses on Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India. Nehru, who led the country for seventeen years from 1947 to 1964, was also the leader of the Indian National Congress party. He attained a larger than life stature in Indian politics. His admirers and many of his critics alike, attribute the resilience of Indian democracy in part to his stewardship after the partition of the country on religious lines and during the crucial decades after independence. This period was an important and vital phase as the country transitioned from a colony to a post-colonial state with important implications for the long-run consolidation of its modern democratic institutions. Nehru remains a “pivotal actor” given the power he gradually accumulated and his preferences and worldviews. Hence, his “vision” needs to be explored in depth and detail.
