In this candid account of her life, Kidwai assesses not just her own contribution to public life, but also provides an honest appraisal of the turn in fortunes of the political party she has remained a loyal member of. The reader is treated to rare glimpses into the homes, lives and the hurly-burly of election campaigns over the decades. One such memorable one was the Azamgarh bypoll in 1978, which Kidwai won as Uttar Pradesh Congress chief, and which signalled a revival of the Congress's fortune after its spectacular defeat in the post-Emergency general elections of 1977. Written with the honesty and simplicity that have been her trademark in public life, this then is not just the memoir of a politician; it is an assessment of an entire era in Indian politics.
Mohsina Kidwai is a leader of Indian National Congress. From Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, she has been a member of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, as well as holding several offices in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) as well as the All India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C.). In the 1970s and 1980s, she served as union cabinet minister in several ministeries including health and family welfare, transport, urban development and tourism.
Rasheed Kidwai is a journalist, author and political analyst. He is a visiting fellow at the Observer Research Foundation [ORF]. A former associate editor of The Telegraph, Kidwai tracks government, politics, community affairs and Hindi cinema, and has written several books on these topics. A graduate of St Stephen's College, New Delhi, he holds a master's degree in mass communication from Leicester University, the UK. He also contributes as a political analyst to News 18, ABP News, NDTV, IndiaAheadNews and India Today TV, among others.