IN POLL season, all roads lead to the great Indian electoral carnival. Take some of the recent book releases, for instance. From the meteoric rise of Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party to the ?100 things? one should know and debate before voting, several recent titles have touched upon themes that range from downright biographical to highly-entertaining fiction.
Understandably, Modi and Kejriwal are the flavours of the moment. A visit to a neighbourhood bookstore will reveal over four books just on Modi, written by different authors, while Kejriwal has around six books on him, besides Swaraj, written by the social activist-turned-politician in 2012.
As Indians begin to vote in an election that is being considered one of the most keenly watched democratic exercises in the world, we take a look at some of the titles that may find resonance with book lovers across the country.
Kunal Doley
The Candidate
Anirudh Bhattacharyya
Penguin
R299
Pp 312
Without a job, and his marriage on the rocks, the mild-mannered Jay Banerjee has no choice but to come back from the US to Delhi. A chance meeting with a childhood friend, Govardhan Ray, aka Raja?a neta with a scandal too many?plunges him into the seamy, madcap world of Indian politics. The fight for the Narayanpore seat?a nondescript district in West Bengal?begins, and along with it, the process of discovering ?the real India?. Banerjee?s challenge: to provide a ?clean campaign with integrity?. Replete with colourful campaigns, media hullabaloo, cynical voters, goondas, chamchas and all the usual suspects, The Candidate is a breezy and humorous story of the great Indian election tamasha.
The author is a journalist who has extensively covered politics and elections for print and television media in India and the US, and has also reported from the White House.
Narendra Modi: A Political Biography
Andy Marino
HarperCollins
R599
Pp 288
T his is a biography of Narendra Modi that ?aims to give a fair picture of the man and his politics?. Modi, the BJP?s prime ministerial candidate, is one of India?s most powerful, popular and controversial leaders. During the ongoing general elections, Modi?s campaign rallies have drawn unprecedented crowds.Andy Marino
recently recorded interviews with Modi for over 10 hours in the course of more than half-a-dozen exclusive meetings.
This political biography analyses the contrasting views on the Gujarat model of governance with detailed statistical inputs to provide a balanced account. Personal details of Modi?s early life, his rise through the political ranks and his personal philosophy on religion and politics are revealed in this
fast-paced, revelatory and readable book.
Single Man: The Life
and Times of Nitish Kumar of Bihar
Sankarshan Thakur
HarperCollins
R599
Pp 324
Here is the tale of one of India?s most talked about politicians as never told before from the biographer of Laloo Prasad Yadav. The book dispassionately unlayers the complex persona behind Nitish Kumar and discovers him to be a ditherer as well as a gambler, tentative and determined, gullible and astute, effacing and ambitious, introvert and interventionist and loner in the crowds he courts.
This book is part-personal diary of Bihar, part-hard political portraiture, part-unsparing perspective and a seamless weave of contemporary political shenanigans, reportage, storytelling and analysis from a dim corner of the country Kumar set out to light up. This is as much an exploration of his zigzag, but focused, rise to power and what he means to Bihar as of what he could become on a bigger stage.
The Big Connect: Politics in the Age
of Social Media
Shaili Chopra
Random House
R250
Pp 224
Are digital means of communication better than traditional bhaashans and processions? Will a social media revolution coerce armchair opinion-makers to head to poll booths? Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are changing the way the denizens of the world and, more specifically, the youth of this country, communicate and connect. In The Big Connect, Shaili Chopra traces the advent of social media in India and how politics and lobbying have now shifted to the virtual floor.
Chopra argues that though a post, a pin or a tweet may not translate into a vote, it can definitely influence it.
With comparisons to the Obama campaigns of 2008 and 2012, and analyses of the social media campaigns of political bigwigs like Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal, the book discusses the role of a digital community in Indian politics.
100 Things to Know and Debate Before You Vote
Hindol Sengupta
HarperCollins
R199
Pp 242
Why are we restless? What is it that makes us dissatisfied? Why is general election 2014 part of every conversation? What is it with the state of India that makes us so uneasy today? Why are thousands dying without healthcare in India? Why is our air unbreathable, our water poisoned? What do our MPs see when they drive to work and what does that say about our democracy? Why is our diplomacy so weak? Ever thought about why ?family problems? caused more than 30,000 Indians to commit suicide last year? What is slower?our Internet or bureaucracy?
Here are 100 things to think about before you press that button in the critical election of 2014. This is the ultimate state-of-the-nation guide to make us think beyond the four-letter acronyms that we have turned our national debate into. This is a call to action, a warning, an urging, a prodding, an appeal to give real issues a think before we vote. After all, if a democracy has to work, the agenda needs to be set by voters as much as by political parties.
The Disrupter
Gautam Chikermane with
Soma Banerjee
Rupa
R295
Pp 225
The meteoric rise of the Aam Aadmi Party?from inception to running the state of Delhi in 13 months?is a story with three principal strands. First, Arvind Kejriwal?iconoclast, leader, and disrupter par excellence, who has dared to defy the fundamental templates of Indian politics and governance. Second, the coalescing of a group of unprecedented diversity?a journalist, a lawyer, an academic, a policymaker, a CEO, a retired NSG commando, an architect and a poet, among many others?on the streets of New Delhi, all bound together by a shared idea of an India that could have been. And, third, of the awakening of the aam aadmi.
In The Disrupter, Chikermane and Banerjee provide an in-depth account of how these three strands came together to create a brand-new political tapestry. And how a single political party captivated the imagination of the citizenry and changed the contemporary political narrative in ways that are both unthinkable and unpredictable.