Citizen Raj: Indian Elections 1952-2019

by Surjit S. Bhalla

The BJP in Election 2019: Will the Narendra Modi-led BJP repeat its 2014 performance; come close to it; or even better it? There is a strong possibility for all three, and in that order, says Surjit S. Bhalla in Citizen Raj: Indian Elections 1952–2019.

The Congress in Election 2019: Will the Rahul Gandhi-led Indian National Congress emerge as the single largest Opposition party; or will it become irrelevant and be relegated to electoral history? Most likely, and in the same order, infers the author.

But this is not a book about Elections 2019. It is the most definitive account of the history of Indian elections, chronicling the political and economic background against which it has been unfolding since 1952: the hegemony of the Congress party for close to six decades, and why the ‘dynasts’ control it; the ignominious end of Janata Party in the 1970s; the economic reforms of 1991; rise of the Right-wing BJP in the early 1980s, and most importantly, the way India ceded space to a man called Narendra Modi.

Citizen Raj cautions readers that the BJP needs corrective action and to immediately move away from its cow politics; even as the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress party, and the Mahagathbandhan (an alliance of regional parties) need to move away from an outdated social and economic narrative to become worthy of a nation which is fast discarding identity and caste politics to emerge as a modern middle-class economic power. Brutally honest, deeply incisive and backed by in-depth research and data, this is essential reading for everyone interested in India’s political and economic future—no matter which side of the political divide they stand on.

Genres: India, Politics

264 pages, Hardcover

Published April 20, 2019

Reviews

[Ajay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite an interesting read. Book goes through from 1952 to 2019 with various aspect of politics views. The author even talks about current government. The book talk through various issues which i enjoyed a lot. It always fun to know things that you are not even aware of and your views are changed entirely or you start looking from that perspective.

[Sandeep Mishra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Post independent India historically has had left leaning intellectuals occupying highest echelons of knowledge and information disseminating institutions. Their ideas and ideologies have been our policies. With the rise of a conservative tradition post 2014, we now have a more balanced synthesis emerging from divergent viewpoints. Surjit Bhalla belongs to the economic right wing, and if I may call so, an old elite but a liberal conservative. Much of the book's predictions and analyses about Modi, the pre election alliances like mahagathbandhan et al are now ex post. But there are a few interesting chapters that look into the sonia effect on Congress and RSS effect on BJP. The author debunks many myths using data sets like the earlier two correlation, democracy-dictatorship vs growth etc. The author gives us a sneek peek into the science of opinion polls, and the risks associated therein (like voters lying about their preferences). Overall an easy breezy read that touches the major economic and political narratives of post independent india. The major achievement of this book probably is that it correctly predicted a majority for bjp on its own and about 60 seats for the INC using data science, when all other opinion polls predicted a hung parliament.

[Bala Parthasarathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great read

Highly recommend it. Though he is biased slightly it is an easy read and correct at its core. Could have been longer.

[Vinayak Arun Kini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pinpoint accuracy

The prediction for both BJP and Congress was accurate almost to the last seat. Read the insightful analysis for the details.

[Nishu Thakur · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book, i must say.

[Aniket Kadam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was featured in must reads of the year 2019, and I happen to skim through its summary and reviews, after couple of hours I was on chapter 3 of the book and within 3 days I finished this simple and yet exhilarating analysis of the Indian election and electorate till now.

This book has some profound topics and insights, the best part is that the author has wisely remained unbiased to every party involved in this grand spectre called Indian Election.

Thank you for writing it.

[Arun Pandiyan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing but a poorly written encomium to the ruler and parti pris defense for his policies.

[Rohan Satija · Rating 3 out of 5]

The negative aspects of the book are it's misleading title, incoherence and worst of all "Modi Praising". The author goes from cautious analysis to full blown Modi worshipping which not only is a sinful thing to do but also deceiving the reader who probably picks this book up to understand the general elections and the issues and the most important episodes of each Lol Shaba elections.

Not really worth a read , you can go through it if you want to understand why Modi will probably win the G.E - 2019.

[Abhinav · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a defence of the Modi govt than an actual history of elections in free India. If you're looking for a rebuttal to all naysayers of the Hindu Hriday Samrat 2.0, this one's for you.