अमेठी संग्राम: ऐतिहासिक जीत अनकही दास्ताँ

by Anant Vijay

पिछले कुछ दशकों में अमेठी की असली पहचान तो भुला ही दी गई। एक ऐसी भूमि, जो महर्षि च्यवन की तपस्थली, माता कालिकन देवी का धाम और राजा सोढ़ देव की वीरगाथाओं के साथ ही स्थानीय निवासियों की आस्था, विश्वास व श्रम से निर्मित होकर परिपूर्ण थी, उसने आजादी के बाद आगे बढ़ने की बजाय उलटी राह पकड़ ली। इस पर सियासत का एक कृत्रिम आवरण सा चढ़ गया और इसे एक राजनीतिक पर्यटन स्थल के रूप में तब्दील कर दिया गया।

अमेठी, कहने को तो वीवीआईपी क्षेत्र था, पर क्या स्थिति वाकई ऐसी थी? क्या इसे वह विशेष दर्जा प्राप्त हुआ था? 2014 के लोकसभा चुनाव में जब भारतीय जनता पार्टी की उम्मीदवार के रूप में स्मृति इरानी यहाँ पहुँचीं, तब अमेठी की पहचान का यह आवरण खुला।

अमेठी संग्राम उसी अनदेखे सच को उजागर करती है। इसमें स्मृति इरानी की वर्ष 2014 से वर्ष 2019 की संघर्ष यात्रा है। उनकी विजय के कारकों को समझने के बहाने भारतीय राजनीतिक दलों और नेताओं की कार्यशैली, राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ की दूरदृष्टि, भाजपा की रणनीति, प्रधानमंत्री नरेन्द्र मोदी की लोकप्रियता, गाँधी परिवार की ताकत का मिथक और क्षेत्रीय दलों के स्वार्थ का लेखा-जोखा है। इसके अलावा स्मृति इरानी की रणनीतिक, व्यवहारिक और राजनीतिक कार्यशैली को भी यह किताब सूक्ष्मता से खोलती है।

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 21, 2020

Reviews

[Sumit Banerjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book in detail explains what happened just before 2014 elections where Smriti Irani was announced as a candidate from Amethi barely days before the elections, and what happened afterwards which culminated in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The fight for one of the most coveted seats which in spite of being so high profile remained backward in development.

This book chronicles the history of Amethi Lok Sabha seat, and the battle between Smriti Irani and Rahul Gandhi during 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The last chapter wherein figures driven details of the past Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections were given was a bit stretch and maybe not needed, according to me, but then that's my personal gripe.

Unlike the journalists who write books on elections sitting in Delhi, there's actual research and interview done on location to understand the pulse of the people. I would have given it 3.5 stars. However, in absence of that option and the groundwork and research done by the author, I am bumping it to 4 stars.

[Gopakumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author delves into the reasons behind Smriti Iran's historical victory in the Amethi Lok Sabha polls in 2019 defeating the scion of the Congress party in what was termed to be a David vs Goliath fight. With lots of ground work, interviews with locals, insights into the personality of Smriti Irani and a historical narrative of how Amethi came to be a pocket borough of the Nehru family, the book is a good read.

You really tip your hat to Smriti Irani for showing the verve inspite of a loss and fighting the good fight.

[Celia Sánchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

i started noticing this actor turned politician when she became minister of Human resources in Modi Govt...Her subject knowledge , ability to answer questions in Indian Parliament with facts and figures (with out looking at notes), versatility,fluency in various languages including sanskrit ...really laudable ..

This book traces Union Minister Irani's journey from her defeat in 2014 to her victory in the Congress stronghold of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh during the 2019 Lok Sabha election.the author attempts to understand the reasons behind Irani's success in Amethi, shining a light on personality and politican ..
Read if u are intrested in Indian Politics...

[Sujeet · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book captures the importance of winning Amethi by a non congress family...it loses marks in presentation since all the numbers percentage winning margins etc could be presented in tables graphs or in a more readable format than it is now..almost 40 pages out of 220 pages book has been dedicated to the same...

[Siddarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed look at how Smriti Irani and the BJP scripted History in Amethi, by winning over the people and defeating Rahul Gandhi, at his own home turf.