THE MAN & HIS MAGIC

India’s most famous man is also its most polarising. He also makes for great copy. No wonder then that there has been a proliferation of books on Narendra Modi— from hagiographical to bitterly critical—ever since he became prime minister in 2014. The latest tome comes from senior journalist Ajay Singh, who writes about the pragmatic party builder behind, as his fans would call him, the haloed statesman.

- PRATUL SHARMA

 The Architect of the New BJP: How Narendra Modi

Transformed the Party By Ajay Singh

Published by Penguin Vintage

Price ₹599; Pages 168

For those who want more than one perspective, there is Modi@20, which is a compendium of 21 essays by domain experts, intellectuals and close associates. It takes a more holistic view of the prime minister, and dives into one aspect of his work, from being the poster boy for hindutva to a great supporter of business.

Together, the books try to decode the man on the throne, and make for insightful reading. They are decidedly less controversial than some of books on Modi, for instance Shashi Tharoor’s The Paradoxical Prime Minister, but are no less readable for being so.

PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi has hogged the limelight for two of the four decades of the BJP’s existence, first as chief minister, and then as one of the most powerful prime ministers in the country. Behind his electoral success is not only a Hindutva-infused charisma, but also a pragmatic mind which focused on building and remoulding the party organisation. This sets his tenure apart from that of the BJP’s first prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, when the party was so focused on running the government that the organisation was neglected.