Patil, whose changing of three sets of clothes on the night of the Delhi blasts raised many an eyebrow, is coming out with a book on "good governance"
MUMBAI: Facing flak for his handling of internal security, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, whose changing of three sets of clothes on the night of the Delhi blasts raised many an eyebrow, is coming out with a book on "good governance" eulogising Chanakya and others.
The book by Patil deals with "how a king should govern his subjects" and has extensive references to figures like Chanakya, the astute strategist of the Mauryan era, the Minister's close associate Pradeep Rathi said.
It also draws reference from mythological characters like Narad and Bhishma Pitamah and Vidur of Mahabharata, he said.
The Home Minister is under intense pressure from a section within the Congress and the Opposition which has been seeking his ouster for "inept" handling of his ministry especially in the wake of terror attacks in Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
"There are several references in the new book to foreign philosophers as good governance is a universal phenomenon," Rathi said.
"He (Patil) has his own style of thinking... sometimes he dwells on Osho and studies the Indian-born philosopher", he said.
Patil has been a prolific writer with a book on Bhagwad Gita released by the Home Minister's spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthy two months ago, Rathi said.
Another treatise on 'Dasbodh', written by Shivaji Maharaj's guru Samarth Ramdas, is on the verge of publication.
"The 'Dasbodh' is in English and will be about 600 pages. It may spill over into two or three volumes as Patil has written extensively," Rathi, who is general secretary of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, said.
He said the response to the Bhagwad Geeta book was "so overwhelming that the first edition ran out in just one and a half months.
"The second edition is on the way to meet the rising demand," Rathi, who belongs to Patil's native Latur district, said.
Patil has penned several books in the past, including a collection of English poems.
The criticism over his changing clothes thrice on Saturday night has left the usually calm Patil furious.
"You criticise his policies, you don't criticise his clothes," he said on Tuesday.
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