This study of six Indian Prime Ministers by one of India’s renowned journalists, focusing on decision making is indeed long overdue on a subject on which not much academic attention has been drawn. Considering that the Prime Minister stands at the top of the pyramid of the Westminster model of parliamentary government which India adopted in its 1949 Constitution and, in due course, adapted to the country’s needs and politics since 26 January 1950, when the Constitution was enacted, it adds to a void. Only three studies so far can be put in this category. LN Sharma’s The Indian Prime Minister: Office and Powers (1976), VA Pai Panandiker and Ajay K Mehra, The Indian Cabinet (1996) and James Manor (ed.), Nehru to the Nineties (1994).
Neerja Chowdhury begins with Indira Gandhi and studies six Prime Ministers till Manmohan Singh. Notably, she skips five important short-tenured Prime Ministers,