Inside India's most polarised political battle

Rajdeep Sardesai's book is a convincing analysis of the national election in India this year, replete with relevant interviews and penetrating comment rising above the heat and dust and unrestrained, often vulgar, rhetoric of the contestants for parliamentary office and far more often than not, the spoils thereof.

- KRISHNAN SRINIVASAN

Sardesai reviews the process of elections themselves, and their overview and monitoring, apart from the outcome which is known to every reader. Therefore, the views and conclusions of the author are more valuable than the narrative itself of the election as it unfolded, and in this respect Sardesai leaves nothing unsaid.

He notes that the result gave the lie to those, even in his journalistic profession, who thought the result would be a foregone victory by a wide margin for the BJP under Narendra Modi. He writes, "Those of us who called the 2024 election even before the campaign kicked off were guilty of forgetting a cardinal principle of life and politics; the future is unpredictable." The biggest shift in voter preference was due to Dalit voters who consolidated with Muslims and which led to a significant drop of five percent in BJP support. The Dalit-Muslim 'alliance' had a major effect on the election outcome.