The Indian President: An Insider's Account of the Zail Singh Years

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About the Book STUDY OF THE INSTITUTION of the president of India, this book is based on the author's term as deputy secretary to the seventh president, Giani Zail Singh. In particular, it examines the president's role when authoritarian governments are voted into power. Things are all the more challenging for a president with a popular prime minister who has an overwhelming majority, as happened in the case of Zail Singh and Rajiv Gandhi.

The Indian President recounts how the guard rails painstakingly created by the first two presidents Rajendra Prasad and S. Radhakrishnan - were partially resurrected by Zail Singh. Richly anecdotal and incisively observed, the book makes a compelling case for why the Zail Singh years are crucial to understanding both the limits and the possibilities of the country's highest office.

About the Author K.C. SINGH joined the Indian diplomatic service in 1974 and retired in May 2008 as secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. Besides serving in Cairo, New York and Ankara, he was deputy secretary to the president of India (1983-87), and JS(XP) and spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs (1998-99). He was ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (1999-2003) and to Iran (2003-05). He is now a columnist and strategic analyst for national and international affairs.

Preface THIS book on the president of India could have been written on at least three earlier occasions. The first was at the start of 1988 when I was posted as first secretary and deputy to the ambassador in the Indian embassy in Ankara. I had joined there after completing my nearly four-year deputation as deputy secretary to the president in July 1987. That is when President (Giani) Zail Singh concluded his controversy-laden presidency. I had got posted some months earlier, in routine, to Ankara, but left a couple months after my term ended.

**Contents and Sample Pages**