himself was almost permitted, in the public eye, to personify all these
achievements – even to the extent that if a certain resentment might
have simmered in some quarters, that too was a compliment. Hopes of
rapid economic development and of emergence from poverty could be
realistically held. Despite the fact that the struggle for effective indepen-
dence was, as Nehru knew, far from over and would in fact be an ongoing
process, and that his proclaimed goal of economic democracy had miles to
go before it was even partially realised, there might be time to draw a
quick breath of relief.
CONSOLIDATING THE STATE, c. 1947–55 213