SSC
Who wrote 'The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh'?
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Answer: Option A — Sanjaya Baru
Detailed Solution
"The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh" is a book by Sanjaya Baru, published in April 2014, just before the general election.
About the book:
- Sanjaya Baru was the media adviser and chief spokesperson to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from 2004 to 2008.
- In the book, he describes the working of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) during the first term of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
He argues that although Manmohan Singh was a respected economist and honest leader, real political power lay with the Congress party president, Sonia Gandhi, and that the Prime Minister had limited control over his cabinet.
It also discusses the India-US civil nuclear deal (2008), which Singh strongly supported.
The book caused political controversy; the PMO called it "fiction" and an attempt to gain commercial benefit.
In 2019, it was made into a Hindi film, "The Accidental Prime Minister", with Anupam Kher as Manmohan Singh.
About Sanjaya Baru:
He is an economist and journalist who has been editor of "Business Standard" and "The Financial Express".
His other books include "1991: How P. V. Narasimha Rao Made History" (2016) and "India's Power Elite".
About Dr. Manmohan Singh (1932-2024):
He was Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014.
As Finance Minister (1991-1996) under P. V. Narasimha Rao, he introduced the economic reforms of 1991 (liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation).
He had earlier been Governor of the RBI (1982-1985) and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.
His own writings include "India's Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth" and the five-volume "Changing India" (2018).
He died on 26 December 2024.
Other political memoirs:
- Natwar Singh: "One Life Is Not Enough" (2014), which also discussed Sonia Gandhi's role.
- Kuldip Nayar: "Beyond the Lines" (autobiography).
- Pranab Mukherjee: "The Coalition Years" (2017).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Natwar Singh wrote "One Life Is Not Enough".
- ✗Kuldip Nayar wrote "Beyond the Lines".
- ✗Pranab Mukherjee wrote "The Coalition Years".
Quick tip
Remember: "The Accidental Prime Minister" = Sanjaya Baru (2014, media adviser to Manmohan Singh; film 2019 with Anupam Kher); "Changing India" = Manmohan Singh.
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.