In the West Bengal election of 2021, the longest state election in the history of India, Mamata Banerjee won the khela, and the BJP lost the plot. How did this happen?The author, Jayanta Ghosal, travelled to all the districts of West Bengal and unearthed certain key factors that helped the Trinamool win the state. For instance, there was a massive gap in the BJP's understanding of Bengali identity, which Mamata was able to exploit. An 'overdose' of central intervention, ra...

In the West Bengal election of 2021, the longest state election in the history of India, Mamata Banerjee won the khela, and the BJP lost the plot. How did this happen?The author, Jayanta Ghosal, travelled to all the districts of West Bengal and unearthed certain key factors that helped the Trinamool win the state. For instance, there was a massive gap in the BJP's understanding of Bengali identity, which Mamata was able to exploit. An 'overdose' of central intervention, ra...

The ancient birthplace of some of the world's major religions and now a modern nuclear power, India is experiencing spectacular economic growth. In twenty-five years its population will overtake that of China, making it one of the most populous and rapidly-developing countries in the world. We all need to know more about this intriguing country.John Farndon explores the changing face of modern-day India and its fundamental contradictions. The country is leading the world in cutting...

How did a 'chai wallah' who sold tea on trains as a boy become Prime Minister of India?On May 16, 2014, Narendra Modi was declared the winner of the largest election ever conducted anywhere in the world, having fought a campaign unlike any before.Political parties in Britain, Australia and North America pride themselves on the sophistication of their election strategies, but Modi's campaign was a master-class in modern electioneering. His team created an election machine th...

A provocative new account of how India moved relentlessly from its hope-filled founding in 1947 to the dramatic economic and democratic breakdowns of today.When Indian leaders first took control of their government in 1947, they proclaimed the ideals of national unity and secular democracy. Through the first half century of nation-building, leaders could point to uneven but measurable progress on key goals, and after the mid-1980s, dire poverty declined for a few d...

Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, is powerful, popular and controversial. With the general elections due to conclude in May 2014, Modi's campaign rallies have drawn unprecedented crowds. Yet, the man remains an enigma. His supporters regard him as the visionary, decisive leader India needs today. His detractors see him as a polarizing fi gure. Is Modi authoritative or authoritarian? Decisive or divisive? A team player or a loner?Andy Marino recorded interviews w...

On 19 March 2017, Yogi Adityanath took an oath as the twenty first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. The book takes you through the journey of a shy and introvert boy from the hills of Uttarakhand, who had a modern education in the faculties of science from Kotdwar, later took sanyas and went through rigorous training in vedic education. From being a rebel politician inside and outside the party, he now has become a man of consensus. This book explores how a nathpanthi...

India is fast overtaking China to become the most populous country on Earth. By mid-century, its 1.7 billion people will live in what is projected to become the world's second-largest economy after China. While a democracy and an open society compared to China, assertive Hindu nationalism is posing new challenges to India's democratic freedoms and institutions at a time when illiberal democracies and autocratic leaders are on the rise worldwide. How India's destiny plays out in the coming ...

Who would have thought that after sixty-five years of independence, a common man would shake and awake the country and its political system. The past two years saw millions of people come out on streets to fight against the biggest evil of our country “corruption”. The Janlokpal Movement was a call to all the politicians of India to listen to the common man's plea. Anna Hazare and his team with Arvind Kejriwal tried every single way possible to plead their cause to the government from peac...

Columnist, author and political commentator, Aakar Patel has long been a close observer of the political scenario. In Price of the Modi Years, he seeks to explain the data and facts on India's performance under Narendra Modi.Modi's predecessor, Manmohan Singh, had once said that Modi would be a disaster as prime minister. This book shows how. It concedes Modi's popularity; this is an accounting of the damage he has wrought. It is the history of India since 2014, assessing ...

When P.V. Narasimha Rao became the unlikely prime minister of India in 1991, he inherited economic catastrophe, violent insurgencies and a nation adrift. Yet because he was unloved by his people and mistrusted by his own party-a minority in Parliament and ruling under the shadow of Sonia Gandhi-Rao lacked the mandate to combat these crises. Yet, Rao was not just able to last a full five years as Prime Minister, he reinvented India, at home and abroad. Few world leaders have achieved so muc...

Is he the next Prime Minister in the making? He is young and dynamic. He is a fierce orator and is often perceived as unconventional. Most importantly, he is an incredibly popular politician in India. Is Yogi Adityanath India's next Prime Minister in the making? His unprecedented rise in the Bharatiya Janata Party and his over-the-top campaigns and displays of his photograph along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's on billboards, among many other moves, seem to ...