The Rise of the BJP The Making of the World's Largest Political Party

The Bharatiya Janata Party is an idea that was seeded into the minds of nationalist Jana Sangh leaders when they began to envision India after Independence. Much like the very core the freedom struggle was built on they saw India as a demographically culturally and historically cohesive and unified nation - as Bharat.In this book senior BJP leader and cabinet minister Bhupender Yadav and leading economist Ila Patnaik come together to trace the BJP's journey from its humble roots through ups and downs and to eventually getting 303 seats in Lok Sabha in 2019 and becoming the world's largest political party. While focusing on the larger economics and political story the book encapsulates many smaller yet hugely significant stories of individuals and incidents which brought the BJP to where it stands now.For the first time ever The Rise of the BJP tells us the inside story of how one of the most powerful political parties makes decisions implements ideas and executes policy. Meticulously researched and immensely readable the book shows us how the BJP fought competing ideologies political assaults and catapulted to the centre stage of national politics. Review A wonderful book that is a must read for anyone wishing to understand what makes the BJP so powerful relevant and successful and what possibly lies ahead for the party. ―Deccan ChronicleThe book is replete with telling anecdotes... the analysis of the economic policies of the Vajpayeeand Modi governments brings Patnaik's voice to the fore. The book also lists waysin which the BJP remains in action on the ground and mobilises its constituencies through yatras divases and samvaads. ―India Today About the Author Bhupender Yadav is a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and member of Parliament representing the state of Rajasthan since 2012. Currently serving as the Union Minister of Labour and Employment and Minister of Environment Forest and Climate Change he started as a student union leader and in 2000 was appointed General Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad a lawyers' organization and remained in the position till 2009. A practising Supreme Court lawyer he was appointed as the BJP's National Secretary in 2010 and took charge as National General Secretary in 2014. Previously the chairman/member of twenty-five Parliamentary Committees Bhupender Yadav is also the co-author of the bookSupreme Court on Forest Conservation and regularly expresses his views on issues of importance in newspapers and on news websites.Ila Patnaik is an economist and professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy New Delhi. She has previously served as the Principal Economic Advisor to the Government of India in 2014-15 and holds a PhD from the University of Surrey UK. Born and brought up in Delhi she studied at Hindu College and Jawaharlal Nehru University and has numerous academic papers in reputed journals for economics to her name. She has also been engaged in policy processes and committees and is a popular columnist in the media.