Y B Chavan on Politics and Society in Modern India

Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan was one of the most important leaders in the history of post-independence India and in his long political career occupied many important positions. He played an important role in the freedom movement of Satara district and joined the provincial government of Bombay led by B G Kher as a parliamentary secretary to the then home minister Morarji Desai in 1946, and retired as deputy Prime Minister in the Charan Singh-led ill-fated government in 1980. He was a self-made man as he had no political lineage. He had a vast experience of working at the state and national levels, and almost for two decades, dominated the Congress party in Maharashtra.

Chavan was a serious student of Indian politics and society, and had a keen analytical mind. Jayant Lele, an eminent political scientist from Canada, who has done substantial work on politics of Maharashtra, interviewed Chavan in 1970, 1974 and 1978, to elicit his views on society and politics in Maharashtra in particular and India in general. The interviews were tape-recorded but Lele could not continue to work on them. But now, with the help of Prakash Pawar, the material contained in the interviews has been retrieved, transcribed, edited and brought out in the book form. It is a welcome addition to the growing literature on the life and times of Chavan.