Indian leaders do not pen autobiographies, laments Hamid Ansari

Vice-President Hamid Ansari today lamented that leaders in India do not write autobiographies to give citizens a glimpse of their innermost thoughts while being on the public stage.

"I take the liberty of saying that I wish this had been an autobiography," Ansari said after releasing a book 'PA Sangma: A Life in Politics - Selected Speeches and Lectures 1979-2004' here.

However, he hastened to add that the book penned by Sangma was a very important collection of writings on issues that relate to the underprivileged sections of the society.

"I thought that the bane of Indian public life -- which in my humble opinion is that public figures do not pen their thoughts on public affairs apart from speeches and writings --would be broken," Ansari said.

He said one aspect of history which was not sufficiently filled up was the innermost thoughts of those who have been players on the public stage.

"When we compare this with other parliamentary democracies, we notice the gap is even more acute... We do need to know the story behind the story and that only comes out in an autobiographies," he said.

Sangma, on his part, later said that he was indeed penning an autobiography, which would be "quite explosive".

The function attended by a galaxy of dignitaries including Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Union minister Paban Singh Ghatowar, jurist Soli Sorabjee, ambassadors and several leaders of Sangma's NCP.