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Believer's Dilemma: A. B. Vajpayee and the Ascent of the Hindu Right 1924-1977: Volume 1

By (author) Abhishek Choudhary

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Winner of the 2023 Tata Literature First Book Award Named among the best books of 2023 by Hindu, Telegraph, and Frontline A stunningly original portrait of the rise of the Hindu Right, and the influential and enigmatic politician at its heart. â€˜Doubles as a history of Hindu supremacism . . . it wonâ€™t be bettered for a long timeâ€™ â€“ Pankaj Mishra â€˜The finest biography of an Indian prime minister that I have readâ€™ â€“ Ramachandra Guha â€˜An instant classic and a total triumphâ€™ â€“ Shruti Kapila â€˜Meticulous and thoroughly readableâ€™ â€“ Shashi Tharoor â€˜An unfailingly honest and searching analysis of a little-known world of political passion . . . Choudhary delivers a landmark work . . . essential reading for anyone interested in modern Indiaâ€™ â€“ Ruth Harris â€˜Spectacular . . . in a different leagueâ€™ â€“ India Today A man of unusual gifts and dangerously consequential flaws, Indiaâ€™s fabled twelfth prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was until recently the Hindu Rightâ€™s most glamorized and enigmatic face. Drawing huge crowds with his natural eloquence, Vajpayee rose from academically mediocre beginnings to become an underground organizer of the proscribed Hindu-revivalist group the RSS, eventually becoming the first RSS volunteer to win a seat in parliament. He grew into a powerful spokesperson for historical victimhood, a vital instrument in the project of Hinduizing India. Abhishek Choudharyâ€™s definitive and unsentimental biography uncovers for the first time and in unprecedented detail how Vajpayeeâ€™s early life lay at the heart of his political character. Renowned for his fiery speeches and maudlin poetry, Vajpayee bridged the gap between Jawaharlal Nehruâ€™s liberalism and Vinayak Savarkarâ€™s conservatism, helping mainstream the Hindu Right. The first of a riveting two-volume study, Believerâ€™s Dilemma is a powerful account of one of the most influential Indian figures in recent history, and of the tumultuous rise of Hindu revivalism.