The dimension of Dattopant Thengadi, founder of the largest trade union movement in India, that has been brought out in this volume is his role as an activist parliamentarian through his debates in the Rajya Sabha for two terms from 1964 to 1976. What stands out from the extracts of his speeches in Parliament are his meticulous presentation of facts, highly referenced propositions and dignified response to counter viewpoints. His intense intellectualism and his diverse fields of knowledge are manifest in the range of subjects Thengadi handled, each an area of specialisation for an expert.
This volume is a lesson for young and elder parliamentarians of today on how to be an efficient, a competent and an elegant parliamentarian. To those interested in post-independence India’s political evolution, this volume provides a window through Thengadi’s political activism in his two terms in Parliament which spanned some of the most momentous developments in India’s political history after independence.

Navin Kalingan is a post-graduate in Economics from University of Delhi and has served in different capacities in the Research and Information Service of Indian Parliament before retiring as Director in 2011.

Dr. Anirban Ganguly is Director of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, New Delhi and is a scholar of civilisation, politics, history and culture and has written and spoken extensively on these topics. 

Dr. Ganguly had his early education at Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, Puducherry and successfully defended his Doctoral Thesis from Jadavpur University, Kolkata on the early nationalist education movement in India and its underlying philosophy of education. Between 2010 and 2013 he was Research Fellow at Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), New Delhi.

Dr. Ganguly regularly lectures in various leading Universities and Institutions across the country. Author of three books, ‘Debating Culture’—(New Delhi, 2013), ‘Swami Vivekananda— Buddha and Buddhism: a Mystic Link’ (Kolkata, 2014), ‘Education: Philosophy and Practice’ (New Delhi, 2011), he has also authored numerous papers, chapters and monographs on civilisational, political, educational and cultural issues. A consistent proponent of projecting India as a civilisationalstate, Dr. Ganguly is also a columnist with the New Indian Express and the Daily Pioneer.

He can be contacted at anirbangan@gmail.com and followed on twitter at @anirbanganguly