Kolkata, Jan 24 (IANS) Clarifying that her book on her father and former prime minister Manmohan Singh was not a response to the memoir penned by his media advisor Sanjaya Baru, author Daman Singh Saturday said she doesn't consider Baru as an expert on Manmohan Singh and it "wasn't worth" her while to read his book.
"The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh" was a 2014 memoir by Indian policy analyst Sanjaya Baru, who was Manmohan Singh's media advisor from May 2004 till August 2008.
"I did not write my book as a response to Sanjaya's book at all. I have not read Sanjaya's book. Personally, I prefer to read a book written by an expert, an insider and honestly, I never considered Sanjaya to be an expert on my father.
"I mean, after all, he was just a media advisor. He essentially advised the media not the prime minister," Daman Singh said here during a discussion at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet.
Daman Singh is the author of "Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan" which traces the journey of the former prime minister and his wife from the 1930s to 2004.
She said she would have read the book if the writer was an insider and was privy to what goes in inside the Prime Minister's Office.
"So Sanjaya was not at all involved in any policy making, any decision making... so I honestly don't see how he could have got to know my father as an individual as a prime minister particularly well.
"So it wasn't really worth my while reading the book. If somebody who actually knew him had written the book, somebody who actually knew how the government works, how the Prime Minister's Office works... somebody like that had written the book, I would have loved to read it," she said.
Daman Singh also revealed Manmohan Singh doesn't disclose anything pertaining to office.
"My father doesn't tell us anything what goes in office so we are dying to know... we are always questioning him, poking him and prodding him to get something out of him... he never tells us anything.
"So if there was a book that actually explained, I would have loved to read it but I am afraid this is not that book," she said.
She also stressed it was her "deliberate intention" to launch her book after the Lok Sabha elections to distance herself from her father's position.
"I started writing my book in 2009, before my father became the prime minister for the second term. I assume Sanjaya started around then. I worked on my book for five years. I don't know how long he worked on it.
"He brought out his book just before the elections. It was my deliberate intention to bring out my book after the elections because I didn't want to use my father's position to promote my book.
"If he was prime minister and my book came out, then it is sort of labelled as a PM's daughter's book and I thought that would be sort of unethical thing to do. I wanted to release my book without that label," she added.
US presidential election: India, China and Russia wind worst - Donald Trump
The second and final debate took place on Friday morning between the incumbent President Donald Trump and his rival Joe Biden before the presidential election (Indian time).
IPL 2024: When a KKR fan hid the ball inside his pants, the policeman became angry, then what happened...the whole truth was captured in the video.
The match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians was played at Eden Gardens on Saturday 11 May. A video of this match surfaced, which quickly went viral on social
Akshay Kumar: Akshay Kumar got angry at being called 'Modi devotee', and said - I have made films even during the Congress era.
Akshay Kumar is in the headlines these days for his latest release film 'Mission Raniganj'. The film seems to be ineffective in doing wonders at the box office. In this episode, the actor has once
Sangakkara sports new helmet with neck safety feature
Sydney, March 9 (IANS) Not only did Sri Lanka's ace batsman Kumar Sangakkara score a brilliant ton against Australia on Sunday, but he also took a step forward in ensuring player-safety, as for
Turkey has become helpful in Pakistan's nefarious plans against India America, know what is the matter
The relations between Turkey and Pakistan are not hidden from anyone. Being both Islamic nations, they do not get tired of chanting each other's tunes. Whether it is a matter of raising the issue of
Telling the vaccine to be safe, the government is far from doubtful, said- Vaccination will prove to be the last nail in the corona coffin
The world's largest vaccination campaign continues continuously in India. But some states have reported that they are not getting enough health worker vaccines, which is ruining the vaccine dose.
Gyanvapi Case: Big blow to the Muslim side in the Gyanvapi case, Allahabad High Court rejects the petition.
Allahabad High Court has rejected the petitions of the Sunni Central Waqf Board and Anjuman Arrangements Masjid Committee regarding the ownership dispute between Gyanvapi Masjid and Kashi Vishwanath
'Has every terrorist been killed, there won't be another Pahalgam'; Congress leader raises questions on Operation Sindoor.
In response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Indian Army destroyed the terrorist hideouts by conducting air strikes in Pakistan and PoK. This operation was named 'Operation Sindoor'. Now
Microsoft's new data center: The country's largest center will be built in Hyderabad, will be ready by 2025; The company has 4.46 lakh cloud-certified employees in the country.
Microsoft has announced its new cloud data center in India. This center will be set up in Hyderabad. It will also be the largest data center in the Indian region. Here work will be done on many things
PM Modi said - 2022 election results have decided the results of 2024, it signals the end of family politics
Although the election of five states was already considered as the semi-final of the next general election, after announcing the results on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself linked the
