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Sanjeev Chopra talked about his latest book 'The Great Conciliator', which is about the life of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
While talking to the media, he said, "The book starts with the period of 1900. The time when he was born in Mughalsarai, talks about the Railway colony where he grew up. Then it goes on to talk about Banaras. The schools where he studied. The teachers that were inspiration for him. Then it talks about Banaras Hindu University, it talks about Mahatma Gandhi's presence there. It talks about Kashi Vidyapith, it talks about how he takes up the position of president of Servants of the People Society..then it talks about how he goes to Lahore. Then of course he becomes the 6th secretary of the Congress." "So there are 36 chapters in the book, which discuss various phases of his life from the beginning to the last efforts at making a lasting peace with Pakistan in Tashkent," he added. He continued, "So, in my mind some little aspects about, you know, we all talk about his resignation as the railway minister, but we don't talk about how he built up the railways. The railways was not such a glorious organisation as we know today, so the entire effort at rebuilding. The entire effort at rebuilding the post and telegraph.... So he was a great institution builder, so I've tried to cover those aspects of his life based on archival records, based on his speeches, and based on a lot of other factors...." Former PM Shastri was a great visionary leader, deeply influenced by the political teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, who understood the language of the people and led the country toward progress. Born in Uttar Pradesh on October 2, 1904, Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of India and served from 1964 to 1966. He died in Tashkent on January 11, 1966, at the age of 61, soon after signing the Tashkent Pact with Pakistan following 1965 war. (ANI)
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