Checkmate: How the BJP Won and Lost Maharashtra

by Sudhir Suryawanshi

On 28 November 2019, Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena chief, was sworn in as the eighteenth chief minister of Maharashtra. This event marked the culmination of a high-voltage political drama that had the entire nation glued to their television sets for days on end. With no party being able to claim a majority in the assembly, President's Rule was imposed in the state. This book takes its readers through the twists and turns of the dramatic political crisis that unfolded as Maharashtra waited for its chief minister.
What really went on behind the scenes?
With access to inside sources and private conversations, this book reveals the hitherto untold story of this political drama, with a comprehensive overview of the state's politics in the last few decades.

Genres: Politics

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 17, 2020

Reviews

[Abhishek Doshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exciting insights into on what goes inside the close curtains in Politics. The Book explained what went around in Maharashtra after none of the parties could secure a full majority. How Sharad Pawar, a Maratha strong man proved his mettle and got the Shivsena,Congress and NCP govt together against the Wealthy and Ruthless Bharatiya Janta Party.
The book has thrilling descriptions of the reasons BJP lost power in the statez

[Sandeep · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great book that captures the politics of a very important Indian state i.e Maharashtra. The author did a fine job extrapolating how historical political events have in some ways shaped contemporary politics. On the face of it, the ongoing political developments in the state seem unique and new, but when zoomed in, and analyzed through the lens of history, the current events have deeper connections to the states' history. Beyond these big picture ideas, the stories of states leading politicians are fascinating to read.

I highly recommend this book as it is rich in content and is well-written! Awesome read

[Rohit Harip · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2019, State of maahsrahstra witnessed a political drama for almost a month.
Checkmate is all about this drama and author of this book is very well constructed the book in very readable format.
Basically book is not diary of mere political events happened in that period but most the times author has focused on the events behind the scenes and interpreted with usueful background of politics.
There are some factual mistakes which i observed while reading and another important thing is while readig Somehow I feel that author Little but inclined to NCP and has soft corner for NCP because on many occasions he had championed NCP.
Rest of all things book is grippy and engaging.

[Nabil Bhatiya · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book revolves around the tense event that rocked the voters of Maharashtra for more than a month after 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election. I felt the author was deliberately biased in the whole narrative. The book has many excerpts from interviews and news articles. Naturally, not everything comes out in the open. And not everything written in this is necessarily a fact. Good book for an introduction to the history of political parties and leaders at the forefront in Maharashtra.

[Sushanth Somayaji · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent review of the real-life game of thrones that was the Maharashtra state election. Though not the war of roses it was surely a war worthy of retelling. Thank you Sudhir Suryavanshi of a good narrative of the times.

[Tejas Jadhav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read about the 2019 Maharashtra elections and a fair bit of history about Maharashtra politics. Some of the insider views and commentary was quite surprising. Gave a good perspective of how the political systems around elections (campaigning, nominations, horse-trading).

[Devdatt D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some Hidden things comes into the Light. Overall a Good book to read but maximum things already known to The Marathi Manoos. There nothing More than newspapers but a good chronological book