Sanjaya Baru is an Indian political commentator, policy analyst, author and journalist. He served as media advisor and official spokesperson to former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Let’s know some more interesting details about Sanjaya Baru’s life, family, biography and other facts.
Biography/Wiki
Sanjaya Baru was born in 1954 in Hyderabad, India (age 65 in 2019). He studied at St. George’s Grammar School and Begumpet Public School, Hyderabad. He holds a master’s degree in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Additionally, he received his Master’s degree from the Center for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. He holds a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Ballou began his career as an economics professor. He has taught at the University of Hyderabad, the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi, and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore. He worked as a professor for about 10 years before entering journalism.
In 1990, he was invited by Doordarshan to interview the then Finance Minister Madhu Dandavate. After that, Baru found journalism an exciting career and soon joined The Economic Times. As a journalist, Balu served as editor of Business Standard, editor-in-chief of Financial Express, deputy editor of Economic Times and Times of India. He was a personal friend of Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Sanjaya and Manmohan Singh 2007
appearance
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 75kg
Family, wife and caste
Sanjaya was born into a Hindu family. His father BPR Vithal served as Finance and Planning Minister during Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Finance Minister of India in PV Narasimha Rao’s government. His mother’s name is Seshu Vithal.
Sanjaya married Rama V. Baru. The couple has a daughter, Tanvika Baru.
Sanjaya Balu’s wife and daughter
Profession
After eight years in journalism, Balu left the Times of India and worked for a while at a research institute in Delhi. Between 1998 and 2000, he found time to read and write. In 2000, he returned to journalism as editor of India’s leading financial newspaper. He became an influential commentator on political and economic issues. From 1999 to 2001, he served as a member of India’s National Security Advisory Council, the National Defense University Expert Group and the India-ASEAN Eminent Persons Group. He has served as a consultant to the Human Development Report Office, the United Nations Development Program and the Asian Development Bank. He has also lectured at Chatham House, London, the National Defense Academy, Delhi, and the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
From 2004 to 2008, Balu was appointed as the chief spokesperson and media advisor to former Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh; during his first term in office. Since 2008, he has served as a senior official at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). In 2011, Baru took over as director of the institute’s geoeconomics and strategy program. He also serves as a non-executive independent director of Wockhardt Limited. In addition, on September 1, 2017, Balu was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). He also served as an additional independent director of Artemis Global Life Sciences Limited.
As an author, Balu’s publications include The Political Economy of Indian Sugar: State Intervention and Structural Change, Strategic Consequences of India’s Economic Performance, The Accidental Prime Minister, 1991: How PV Narasimha Rao Made History and India, and India and the World: Essays on Geoeconomics and Foreign Policy.
Sanjaya Baru attended the book launch of “The Accidental Prime Minister”
dispute
- In 2014, Sanjay Baru published a book titled The Accidental Prime Minister in which he argued that Dr. Manmohan Singh had little control over his cabinet during his tenure , and made headlines by completely succumbing to the Congress party and party leader Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister. He said significant powers of Dr Singh were wiped out by party president Sonia Gandhi during his two terms in office. However, one congressional representative called Ballou’s book “a novel written by a disgruntled traitor.”
Sanjaya Baru and his book The Accidental Prime Minister
- When Dr Singh announced his retirement before the 2014 elections, Balu had no choice but to publish the book under pressure from publishers; despite an earlier decision that the book would be released after the elections. Congress leaders claimed that the book was published at the height of the 2014 elections and that the opposition raised questions to Dr. Singh based on the claims in the book.
Dr. Singh and Sonia Gandhi
fact
- Sanjay Baru’s book ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ has created a lot of controversy and the Prime Minister’s Office issued an official statement saying, “This is an attempt to abuse a privileged position and opportunity to gain access to senior positions to gain credibility and is clearly Use it for commercial gain.”
Sanjaya Baru – The Accidental Prime Minister
- In his book The Accidental Prime Minister, Baru revealed many secret conversations between the prime minister and ministers. He also revealed that during Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister, his choices were often overruled by Sonia Gandhi.
Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi
- Baru claimed that he wrote the book “The Accidental Prime Minister” because Dr. Singh did not receive credit for all the work he had done and that 90% of his writings supported Dr. Singh.
Sanjaya Baru and Manmohan Singh
- In the book, Balu refers to Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra as “Damadji”.
- In his book he boldly states that Rajiv Gandhi was a weak Prime Minister.
- Dr Manmohan Singh’s daughter Arbind Singh reviewed Balu’s book The Accidental Prime Minister, calling it a “gross breach of trust”.
Anupam Kher and Akshay Khanna as Manmohan Singh and Sanjaya Balu
- However, the film “The Accidental Prime Minister” was opposed by the Congress Party and was supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
- Congress leaders have claimed that Sanjaya Balu’s book is a “dime novel” written in retaliation for Balu being deprived of the post of adviser to the prime minister in his second term.
- In 2010, Balu was awarded the GITAM Foundation Annual Award.
- His hobbies include reading, writing and listening to music.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education