India Before Modi: How the BJP Came to Power
Narendra Modi has been a hundred years in the making, and this book provides the backstory. It begins with the creation of Hindu nationalism, moves on to the 1980 formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and ends with its first national administration, from 1998 to 2004. By revisiting these events, we can trace the Modi government's current dominance of Indian politics all the way back to its origins.

Vinay Sitapati follows this journey through the entangled lives of the party's founding fathers: Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. Over their six-decade-long relationship, Vajpayee and Advani worked as a team, despite differences in personality and beliefs. Bound together by RSS discipline and shared ambition-for a Hinduiszed Indian polity- their partnership explains the nature of the BJP before Modi, and why it won power.

In supporting roles are a colorful cast of characters, from the warden's wife who made room for Vajpayee in her family to the billionaire grandson of Pakistan's founder, who happened to be a major early BJP benefactor. Based on private papers, party documents, newspapers and over 200 interviews, this is a must-read for all those interested in the Hindu nationalist ideology that now rules India.
1139581348
India Before Modi: How the BJP Came to Power
Narendra Modi has been a hundred years in the making, and this book provides the backstory. It begins with the creation of Hindu nationalism, moves on to the 1980 formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and ends with its first national administration, from 1998 to 2004. By revisiting these events, we can trace the Modi government's current dominance of Indian politics all the way back to its origins.

Vinay Sitapati follows this journey through the entangled lives of the party's founding fathers: Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. Over their six-decade-long relationship, Vajpayee and Advani worked as a team, despite differences in personality and beliefs. Bound together by RSS discipline and shared ambition-for a Hinduiszed Indian polity- their partnership explains the nature of the BJP before Modi, and why it won power.

In supporting roles are a colorful cast of characters, from the warden's wife who made room for Vajpayee in her family to the billionaire grandson of Pakistan's founder, who happened to be a major early BJP benefactor. Based on private papers, party documents, newspapers and over 200 interviews, this is a must-read for all those interested in the Hindu nationalist ideology that now rules India.
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India Before Modi: How the BJP Came to Power

India Before Modi: How the BJP Came to Power

by Vinay Sitapati
India Before Modi: How the BJP Came to Power

India Before Modi: How the BJP Came to Power

by Vinay Sitapati

Hardcover

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Overview

Narendra Modi has been a hundred years in the making, and this book provides the backstory. It begins with the creation of Hindu nationalism, moves on to the 1980 formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and ends with its first national administration, from 1998 to 2004. By revisiting these events, we can trace the Modi government's current dominance of Indian politics all the way back to its origins.

Vinay Sitapati follows this journey through the entangled lives of the party's founding fathers: Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. Over their six-decade-long relationship, Vajpayee and Advani worked as a team, despite differences in personality and beliefs. Bound together by RSS discipline and shared ambition-for a Hinduiszed Indian polity- their partnership explains the nature of the BJP before Modi, and why it won power.

In supporting roles are a colorful cast of characters, from the warden's wife who made room for Vajpayee in her family to the billionaire grandson of Pakistan's founder, who happened to be a major early BJP benefactor. Based on private papers, party documents, newspapers and over 200 interviews, this is a must-read for all those interested in the Hindu nationalist ideology that now rules India.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781787385375
Publisher: Hurst
Publication date: 11/15/2021
Pages: 400
Product dimensions: 9.37(w) x 6.59(h) x 1.58(d)

About the Author

Vinay Sitapati is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies at Ashoka University. He holds degrees from the National Law School Bangalore and Harvard, and a Politics PhD from Princeton. His first book, a bestselling biography of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, was an Economist Book of the Year.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Prime Minister Advani (1995) ix

Part I The Past (1924-80)

1 Hindu Fevicol (1924-45) 3

2 Ghosts of Partition (1945-50) 24

3 In Nehru's Shadow (1951-67) 42

4 Partnership Forged by Fire (1968-73) 63

5 Perks of Prison (1974-77) 81

6 Prudent in Power (1977-80) 97

Part II The Party (1980-98)

7 Radical Hindus, Moderate Vajpayee (1980-84) 113

8 Advani's BJP (1985-89) 136

9 Mandal, Mandir, Market (1990-91) 154

10 Too Many Generals (1992) 171

11 Untouchables (1993-98) 186

Part III Power (1998-2004)

12 Experiment in Governance (1998-99) 205

13 Coalition Dharma (1999-2004) 221

14 Oh, Pakistan (1999-2004) 232

15 Making India Great Again (1999-2004) 246

16 The Spectre of Narendra Modi (1999-2004) 258

Postscript: 2004 and After

The Lotus Withers 285

Scholarly Contribution 303

Notes 311

Index 395

Acknowledgements 407

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