New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Westland Publications has acquired award-winning author-social scientist Nalin Mehta’s latest book, “The New BJP: Modi and the Making of the World”s Largest Political Party”, a statement by the publishing house said on Thursday.
To be released under Westland”s ”Non-Fiction” imprint in October, the book goes beyond “Hindutva politics” to explain how the BJP reshaped the Indian polity “using its own brand of social engineering cleverly using caste to build caste-based coalitions, even as it claimed to have built a new welfare state with vigorously publicised development programmes”.
“This is not a book about whether what the BJP stands for is right or wrong for India; or whether Hindu nationalism, as opposed to Hindu traditionalism, in a Hindu-majority democracy is good or bad. It is about why the BJP won, or did better than earlier, in more elections than it lost, or performed poorly in, since 2014,” said Mehta.
“.. This book sheds new light on the modes of political power in India, the mechanics of BJP’s election triumphs, the role of technology in politics, how the party won power nationally and what this portends for Indian politics,” he added.
Touted to be a “non-partisan, fact-based and critical documentation” of the BJP, the book claims to provide a fresh understanding of the party”s growth areas — the Northeast, women voters, and South India with the Karnataka model — and offers what it calls a “dispassionate account” of what is happening in India today.
“Nalin”s book is path-breaking in its application of data to the task of understanding exactly how the Indian democratic system functions. His fascinating research and insightful explanation of his findings enlivened by anecdotes and marvellous visual storytelling transforms our understanding of the ways in which power is sought to be achieved and retained. I feel privileged to be part of the process of bringing the book to readers around the world,” said Karthika VK, publisher, Westland Publications.
Mehta”s previously authored books include “India on Television” (winner of the Asian Publishing Award for Best Book on Asian Media, 2009), “Behind a Billion Screens” and the latest “Dreams of a Billion” (2020), co-authored with Boria Majumdar. PTI MG TRS
