Description
- Rights: World, January 2022
- ISBN: 9789351952268
- Ebook ISBN: 9789351952275
- Category: Non-fiction/Politics and Current Affairs
- Binding: Paper Back
- Imprint: Hachette India
- Page extent: 184 pp
- Cover Price: Rs 399
SELLING POINTS
Praise for the book:
o ‘Kidwai’s style is breezy, anecdotal and full of interesting bon mots.’ – The Hindu
o ‘A fascinating kaleidoscope of India’s democratic experience and experiment over the past seven decades... A must-read for all those who are interested in discerning how this chaotic, anarchic land of a million mutinies is also a democratic continuum ever since its liberation from British imperialism.’ – Asian Age
o ‘For both the initiated and the uninitiated, the apolitical and the overly political, the book has something.’ – Deccan Herald
- A slim, accessible volume containing ten pieces of insightful commentary on India’s most momentous elections (national as well as regional)
- Provides a big-picture look on how India’s democratic process has come to be what it is today.
- Covers the events that made these elections significant, highlights the consequences of their results and connects/contrasts the socio-political background of those polls with the present-day political scenario.
- An interesting, informative read for anyone interested in India’s politics and the evolution of India’s democracy.
- Rasheed Kidwai is the best-selling author of 24 Akbar Road, Sonia: A Biography and Neta-Abhineta.
ABOUT THE BOOK
543 Lok Sabha seats. More than 4,000 state constituencies. Over 800 million voters. The world’s largest democracy.
From the time of its inception, democracy in India has been dubbed ‘miraculous’ by the world’s media, and its elections as a spectacular exercise in human management.
In Ballot, Rasheed Kidwai takes us through his pick of seminal elections that have shaped Indian democracy both at the centre and in select states. Highlighting the unique challenges faced by a country that adopted universal adult franchise at the very outset, profiling personalities who have triggered ground-shifts, and analysing the causes and consequences of key electoral episodes, he traces the very evolution of India’s democratic process.
Combining insightful commentary and colourful anecdotes, Ballot provides a brief, incisive examination of India’s most momentous elections.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rasheed Kidwai is a journalist, author, columnist and a political analyst. He is a visiting Fellow with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). Formerly associate editor of the Telegraph, Kidwai tracks government, politics, community affairs and Hindi cinema. Kidwai is author of Sonia: A Biography, 24, Akbar Road: A Short History of The People Behind the Fall and Rise of the Congress, Ballot: Ten Episodes that Have Shaped India’s Democracy, Neta Abhineta: Bollywood Star Power in Indian Politics, Bharat ke Pradhanmantri: Desh-Dasha- Disha and The House of Scindias: A Saga of Power, Politics and Intrigue.
A graduate from St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi, Kidwai holds a Master’s degree in mass communications from Leicester University, United Kingdom. He also contributes as a political analyst to numerous television channels, including News 18, ABP News, NDTV, IndiaAheadNews, India Today TV.