Tag Archives: Politics

The first chapter of the book titled ‘Backdrop’ maps out in detail the peculiar South Asian backdrop in which the stories unfold in the matrix often referred to as Mafia Raj. It also explores how ‘the art of making do’ (jugad) translates into ‘the art of bossing’ and how informal economy brushes with organized crime often supported by the political establishment.

The book stands out because it is a study which, having identified the visions which brought the group of seven together, also highlights the politico-ideological priorities of the members of this group. One notices a broad division of priorities among them.

The book later covers the last phase of Rai’s politics and his ultimate alignment with the Hindu Mahasabha. The work seriously engages with complete writings and required contextual readings and comes out with a coherent and fresh perspective on the life and thought of Lajpat Rai. Having said that, in her attempt to portray Lajpat Rai’s politics and work in a more coherent manner

This identity has various facets—historical, cultural, social, political, religious, and liberal—dealt with in separate chapters. Ahmed argues that there is a serious reconfiguration of these thematic aspects of Indian Muslim identity in the present time, the New India: arguably an ideological framework and a process that has redefined the Indian political context. This framework’s bent is on the ‘responsive government-responsive people’

These are notes helping us fathom how our own imperfections make us dream of a perfect world, how each time we heal the world a bit, we heal ourselves. No one who reads the book will be left with the excuse of not daring to change because they are ‘ordinary’, for this is a story of how ordinary seeming people can harness their individual and collective strengths to create solutions that had never been imagined. Like the author says

As an advocate of gender equality and women’s empowerment, if I were to add to this splendid volume in any future editions, I would add chapters on the relative merits, the synergies and distinctions between Maha Lakshmi and the other two Mahadevis in the trinity

For Jaffrelot, Modi’s personalization of power coupled with identifying the cosmopolitan origins of the Nehru-Gandhi family in particular allowed him to claim ownership to being a victim of elite politics along with the common people. This ‘national-populism’ for Jaffrelot is undergirded by a mimetic syndrome wherein Modi successfully managed to create a discourse of unanimism—the idea that the people and the leader are one and the same. This ‘Moditva’

The rest of the essays in Part II of the book are rooted in different aspects of elections. ‘Election Time’ by Anupama Roy and Ujjwal Kumar Singh reiterates elections as an expression of popular sovereignty, highlights the significance of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Election time also serves as a site of electoral morality in the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)

While reading the book I couldn’t help but think of a very disturbing image from news this year when a part of the roof at Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 collapsed, killing a cab driver waiting for passengers and injuring several others. Compensations were announced and allegations and counter allegations between the ruling government and the opposition followed.

Anup Shekjhar Chakraborty looks at the phenomenon of ‘notices’ in the Northeast which are handed out as local communitarian commands. Here the community replaces the state as the focal point of governance. Pratip Chattopadhyay analyses how debates are conducted in Indian tele-media. He calls for a more participatory model of debating to ensure more meaningful participation of the new generation. Vinod Pavarala draws our attention to a now forgotten medium of political communication

Chapters five, ‘Can Umbrella Parties Survive? The Decline of the Indian National Congress’, and seven, ‘Coalition Strategies and the BJP’s Expansion 1989-2004’ provide a long-term perspective on the two largest parties: the Congress and the BJP. Chapter five, coauthored with Adnan Farooqui, provides a critical assessment of Congress’s diminished capacity to act as an ‘umbrella party’ based on electoral rules

Coming to the limitations of the book, the author’s desire to give a simple and accessible introduction to the idea/ideal of secularism does not get involved with the various intellectual critiques of secularism as a western hegemonic ideology particularly put forth by Islamists and decoloniality theorists.

The most moving section in the entire book is the concluding part, ‘Suffering’. The four chapters in this portion are important in that they narrate in detail the miseries which were inflicted on the families of the sixteen ‘conspirators’. The uniqueness of this portion of the book lies in the fact that problems which the victims and their families faced are retold in their own voices.

Fazal problematizes the contradictory government stand vis-à-vis ban on cow slaughter and a rise in beef exports almost at the same time. The steps which cater to divisive populism fell short of engaging with the impact it had on the livelihood issues of farmers as well as people engaged in subsidiary industries. The pitiable condition of Gaushalas which fail to provide decent living conditions to the cows question the actual commitment of the government.

Divided into seven chapters along with a detailed introduction, including notes on sources, and conclusion, the book uncovers some of the aspects about both the universities which are hardly discussed and deliberated upon. For example, it is often stated that Jawaharlal Nehru once described Jamia as ‘a lusty child of the noncooperation movement’ and sent a special message on the Silver Jubilee of Jamia on 10 September 1946.

In a sudden move, on June 20, 1948, the Madras Ministry led by Omandur Ramaswamy Reddiar issued an order imposing Hindi once again on the population. The difference this time was that Hindi was imposed as an elective second language along with other south Indian languages.

In order to improve Census accuracy, Kumar proposes a number of measures such as strengthening bureaucratic accountability, streamlining Census schedules, securing the release of data on time, and engaging respondents more intensively

The introduction (‘Sojourning for Truth’) and the Epilogue (‘The Last leaf’) bring the book to our pressing present and show us the mirror. Bela recalls, she was a four-year-old when famine raged Bihar’s countryside in 1967 and she heard about poverty for the first time.

Bakshi drives home the point that if one has to remain true to Vivekananda’s teachings, then the issue of fanaticism needs to be tackled head-on. Interestingly enough, though, Bakshi argues that ‘the death-knell of all fanaticism’ is not a point of arrival, but an ‘arduous and an ongoing process’ (p. 107).

Needless to say, Modian Consensus: The Rediscovery of Bharat remains an appropriate intervention in the growing plethora of relevant analyses of current politics in India. The recently concluded general elections and the results thereof, however, appear to have put a spanner in the works of the developing Modian Consensus! Not only has the BJP suffered quite a noteworthy electoral setback, the role of coalition partners—and therefore, coalition politics in general—has emerged stronger and more robust