Indian polity at length

Many renowned academic scholars and political science aficionados were present on the release of the book ‘Winning the mandate -The Indian Experience’, a combined effort of Bidyut Chakrabarty, Professor of Political Science, University of Delhi and Sugato Hazra, senior adviser at DTA consulting. The event was held at India International Centre last week.

The book brings forth behind-the-scene work of elections from the very first one in 1952 till Bihar election in 2015. It provides in-depth analysis of electoral campaigns, patterns in elections from time to time, and also tells about recent trends like the role of social media in elections. 

It was an opportunity for the audience to witness the discussion among Jawhar Sircar, CEO, Prasar Bharti; Lord Meghnad Desai, a well known economist and Arati Jerath senior journalist under one roof. The panelists commented on the book and talked about the current scenario of the national politics. Meghnad Desai said: “The 2014 election was a landmark in Indian politics.”

Jawhar Sircar commented on the work and said: “Bidyut has not edited its flamboyant style of writing which is good thing, half of it is about the history of election from 1952 to 2014 giving a quick recap while the rest focuses on 2014”. 

On the other hand, Aarti Jerath said: “The book provides valuable insights of 2014 elections and highlights similarities in the campaign strategies. Elections are fought on contextual issues and campaigns should be crafted around them.”