India Since Independence Making Sense Of Indian Politics

India Since Independence: Making Sense of Indian Politics is a comprehensive account of India's post-independence political history. It discusses the emergence of Mahatma Gandhi,the role of Indian capitalists in the freedom struggle, the predominance of the Congress party, rise of Indira Gandhi, Congress split of 1969, the infamous Emergency of 1975, the decline of the party, and the formation and demise of the Janata Party. It covers the political scenario in various states; the Bofors scandal; and the Ayodhya campaign.

A comprehensive and up-to-date study of the major political, cultural and economic changes in India during the past 45 years.

Making Sense of Modi's India attempts to understand the meaning and implications of Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party's massive victory in the May 2014 general election, regarded as a watershed in post-Independence India's political history. The book brings together a cross-section of leading voices from academia, media and politics to examine the factors behind the dramatic resurgence of Hindu nationalism and Modi's own meteoric rise. Where is India headed under Modi? What exactly are the contours of the 'new' India he has promised to build? And is his promise of 'development' real or a cover for a hidden agenda? The book raises these questions in an attempt to contribute to - and hopefully shape - the debate on the future of modern India.

Focusing on politics and society in India, this book explores new areas enmeshed in the complex social, economic and political processes in the country. Linking the structural characteristics with the broader sociological context, the book emphasizes the strong influence of sociological issues on politics, such as social milieu shaping and the articulation of the political in day-to-day events. Political events are connected with the ever-changing social, economic and political processes in order to provide an analytical framework to explain ‘peculiarities’ of Indian politics. Bidyut Chakrabarty argues that three major ideological influences of colonialism, nationalism and democracy have provided the foundational values of Indian politics. Structured thematically and chronologically, this work is a useful resource for students of political science, sociology and South Asian studies.