Believer's Dilemma: Vajpayee and the Hindu Right's Path to Power, 1977–2018
Author: Abhishek Choudhary
Price: Rs. 899.10 • ✓ 100% Genuine Publisher Edition
Book Overview
About This Book**Believer’s Dilemma **concludes Abhishek Choudhary’s landmark two-part study of Atal Behari Vajpayee (1924–2018), the RSS propagandist who established himself as an imaginative moderate, drawing the Hindu Right from the fringes to displace Congress as the natural party of power.This magisterial second volume combines new archival documents with revealing interviews to present an unsentimental history of India’s ongoing political moment, beginning with the short-lived Janata coalition and the Vajpayee–Morarji Desai tussle to steer foreign policy; Mrs Gandhi’s ad-hocism in Assam, Punjab and Kashmir; Rajiv’s cynical turn toward the Hindu vote; Vajpayee’s failure to secularize the newborn BJP; the Sangh Parivar’s meticulous plan to raze the Babri, and much more. Choudhary traces these machinations of the previous half-century to cast fresh light on major events from Vajpayee’s term in office (1998–2004), including his desperation to conduct nuclear tests; his cold pragmatism and heartbreak in negotiating with Pakistan and China; his wide range of emotional strengths, which allowed him to manage an unwieldy thirteen-party coalition and turn India into a multi-party democracy; his role in propping India up as a potential superpower and embedding capitalist aspiration into its socio-political imagination.Mapping the evolution of the Sangh Parivar, this book reveals a deeper pattern in Vajpayee’s character: his reflexive loyalty to his ideological family in moments of crisis – be it the 1983 Assam riots, the 1992 Babri aftermath, the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, or his tragic last public appearance in 2008, when the stroke-battered patriarch voted against the Indo-US nuclear deal he had earlier helped seed.A decade in the making, **Believer’s Dilemma is an original and psychologically insightful take on the Hindu Right and its first prime minister.** Read moreBook DetailsAuthor: Abhishek ChoudharyPublisher: Picador India (20 July 2025); Pan Macmillan Publishing, 707, 7th Floor, Kailash Building 26, K.G. Marg, New Delhi, Delhi 110001Format: Hardcover – 20 July 2025Language: EnglishPages: 496ISBN: 978-9361137761Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.3 x 3.1 cmWeight: 340 g
Browse this title within our Social Sciences and Education collection. Edition details: Hardcover – 20 July 2025, English.
Book Specifications & Quick Facts
- Reading Level
- Students & Academic Researchers
- Language & Format
- English • Hardcover – 20 July 2025
- ISBN Reference
- Available on request
- Publisher
- Picador India (20 July 2025); Pan Macmillan Publishing, 707, 7th Floor, Kailash Building 26, K.G. Marg, New Delhi, Delhi 110001
- Pan-India Delivery
- Dispatches in 24–48 Hours across India
What is this book about?
About This Book**Believer’s Dilemma **concludes Abhishek Choudhary’s landmark two-part study of Atal Behari Vajpayee (1924–2018), the RSS propagandist who established himself as an imaginative moderate, drawing the Hindu Right from the fringes to displace Congress as the natural party of power.This...
Who should read this book?
Valuable for university students, educators, and scholars seeking authoritative reference material and structured subject mastery.
Why Readers Pick This Edition
- You’ll love this book for its clear-eyed, deeply researched account of how modern Indian politics was reshaped from the inside. Drawing on rare archives and candid interviews, it takes you beyond slogans to understand Vajpayee’s contradictions, ambitions, and compromises. If you want to grasp how the Hindu Right moved from the margins to power—and why today’s political moment looks the way it does—this is an absorbing, authoritative read that rewards careful attention.
- Published by Picador India (20 July 2025); Pan Macmillan Publishing, 707, 7th Floor, Kailash Building 26, K.G. Marg, New Delhi, Delhi 110001.
- Language: English.
Catalog Description
About This Book**Believer’s Dilemma **concludes Abhishek Choudhary’s landmark two-part study of Atal Behari Vajpayee (1924–2018), the RSS propagandist who established himself as an imaginative moderate, drawing the Hindu Right from the fringes to displace Congress as the natural party of power.This magisterial second volume combines new archival documents with revealing interviews to present an unsentimental history of India’s ongoing political moment, beginning with the short-lived Janata coalition and the Vajpayee–Morarji Desai tussle to steer foreign policy; Mrs Gandhi’s ad-hocism in Assam, Punjab and Kashmir; Rajiv’s cynical turn toward the Hindu vote; Vajpayee’s failure to secularize...
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