Abstract
The Indian general election of 2014 saw what was perhaps a great upset electorally, with the ruling party being decimated by what could only be concluded to be the individual charisma of one man – Narendra Modi. Winning the Mandate crafts quite a different picture, exposing the complex political events that led to this unforeseen result.
The book is different compared with other electoral analyses as it adopts a very critical stance in its analysis, having no political bias or preferences – something that is often missing from analyses of this kind. The fact that it addresses the electorally significant yet sensitive issue of minority appeasement from an unbiased perspective makes it a daring attempt at socio-political analysis with clear statements regarding the effects of such appeasement.
It also deconstructs brand Modi and brand Hindutva, highlighting political moves throughout the length of the post-independence history of India and providing the requisite focus on the often-ignored state elections that helped build the narrative for Indian voters who were made susceptible to the Modi brand of leadership. With detailed statistical and historical analyses using anecdotes as well as documented but less well-known facts, the authors have made the book an engaging read for all.
The emphasis of the book on the political history of India since the 1950s sends a message that the cultural force of Hindutva was not built overnight, but rather was the result of decades of appeasement politics by Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and others. Not only is this backed up by a significant amount of historical data, but it is also crafted logically to introduce the political phenomena of Modi and Hindutva or right-wing Hindu nationalism in the twenty-first century.
Towards the end of the book, however, both Hindutva and minority appeasement seem to take a back seat to make way for the steep political rise of Modi and his seemingly innovative political campaign, ushering in the new era of digital political campaigning with Modi’s unique ways of connecting to the crowds via massive rallies.
However, to any casual observer of Indian politics, the ‘Hindtuva vs. minority appeasement’ theme is still quite relevant in Indian politics and brand Modi continues to benefit from it, rendering the overt focus of the latter half of the book on the more secular aspects of Modi’s leadership a little bit overdone. The end product, however, remains a relevant addition to the historical analyses of Indian politics which is politically unbiased and makes for an easy read.