There have been several attempts at capturing the rise and journey of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, but "The Architect of the New BJP: How Narendra Modi Transformed the Party" brings a unique perspective, complete with insights and anecdotes that chronicle the transformation of the party under PM Modi.
Former journalist and the current Press Secretary to the President of India, Ajay Singh, encapsulates the unique model that transformed BJP into an election-winning machine. In less than four decades, BJP has become the world's largest political party; and there are some hard stories to be told. Most importantly, the book is a work of objective reporting and analysis and takes no sides on ideological matters.
Singh, who worked in various capacities in the field of journalism in a career spanning over 35 years, has been one of the intriguing observers of Indian politics. The book, titled "The Architect of the New BJP: How Narendra Modi Transformed the Party" published by Penguin eBury Press, is a must-read. The proposed book seeks to fill the gap that exists amid the burgeoning literature on Modi, the BJP and Hindutva: No published work has addressed this critical topic of party-building.
In the book, Singh has used in-depth research and concrete examples to explain BJP's transformation over the years. There are some interesting anecdotes not known to the masses, such as PM Modi's experiments with traditional methods of party-building, his keen eye for detail and the innovative methodologies used to expand the party. The writing mixes the first-person narration, eye-witness accounts, insider perspectives, storytelling mode of reporting and analysis.
What sets this book apart is how Singh examines the origin of the party, right from the vision of its founders, and then goes on to give a glimpse into the party's future. The book gives rare insights into the party's historic rise, resulting from much internal deliberation and planning.
Where to buy: Amazon
Reviews: The Architect of the New BJP
The book is critically-acclaimed and has received coveted accolades. Here are some of the reviews from noted personalities and critics.
"Repeated election victories require not just a charismatic leader but also the creation of organizations and institutions that last. In this engaging book, Ajay Singh offers the reader an unusual peek into Narendra Modi the builder, beginning with the story of his impeccable organization of relief work following the 1979 Machchhu river dam tragedy in Gujarat all the way down to his transformation of India's economy and polity today," Arvind Panagariya, professor, Columbia University, and author of India Unlimited, writes.
The world has witnessed the meteoric rise of Narendra Modi from a chaiwalla to India's Pradhan Mantri! But how? Ajay Singh provides a riveting, behind-the-scenes narrative of Modi's organizational skills, discipline against all odds, stern empathy, self-reflection and perseverance that scripted his success. Inspirational, informative and engaging," S.P. Kothari, Gordon Y. Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance, MIT Sloan School of Management, writes.
An informative, evidence-based book which unfolds the story of the long political journey of Narendra Modi, from being a modest Sangh pracharak to becoming one of the most powerful prime ministers of India. What makes this book interesting is the author's close look at the organizational skills of Narendra Modi, which he demonstrated when he was a lesser-known politician - hardly known to many. The book presents a detailed account of Modi's organizational skills, his courage to experiment and innovate, beyond traditional vote-bank politics, even when he had just made an entry in electoral politics from the Sangh Parivar," Sanjay Kumar, professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, said of the book.
There is a time in a leader's life before the figure is in full glare of the public eye. These years hold clues to more than we may admit. Ajay Singh gives us rare insights into the work and manner of India's prime minister. Perhaps more than others this is a veteran reporter's angle," Mahesh Rangarajan, environmental historian and political analyst, said.
The electoral magic of Modi seems to be getting stronger every day. Of course, his charisma and personal appeal are unparalleled, but a secret of his success is his organizational genius that he used to reinvent the BJP into a political entity transcending geographical, demographic and economic barriers. Ajay Singh's book is the first credible attempt to analyse how Modi transformed a legacy organization to power his success and create the most successful political party since Independence," Uday Shankar, former president, Walt Disney APAC, and former chairman, Star India, said in his review.
Synopsis: The Architect of the New BJP
The rise and rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a phenomenon of historical significance unfolding before us. In 2014, the BJP not only won more seats than any other party over the past several decades, it also increased its tally in the next general elections in 2019. The exceptional achievements have merited a slew of books and studies – on the leader, on the party and on their ideology. What remain to be explored yet are how the party has grown over the decades, what methodologies were adopted to build and expand the organisation, and how Modi experimented with – and innovated upon – the traditional methods of party-building.
In hindsight, the party's journey to greater heights seems quite natural (as opposed to deliberate) when they are explained in terms of the ideology and the events that formed the context. That, however, is often a simplification and a mere post-facto narrative, as perceptive political leaders and political scientists know well. They know that a political party, like any other comparable organisation, grows (or diminishes) as an outcome of well-planned strategies internal to itself. It is this party-building process of the BJP – and Modi's lesser-known contributions to it – that the proposed book delineates.
Based on extensive interviews of a large number of party workers, leaders and observers over long years, here is the story of how the veterans of this cadre-based party had developed a unique Indian model to build the organisation, and how Modi, appreciating its limitations, crafted novel innovations upon it – in Gujarat in the 1980s, and in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in the 1990s. Since 2002, he has coupled the organisational consolidation strategies with the governance paradigm.
For concrete examples, consider Modi's first assignment in electoral politics, which was crafting the strategy for the Ahmedabad civic elections in 1987, and he managed to deliver an overwhelming majority for the party that had never been in power in the city. Or, consider his three terms as Chief Minister, during which he started several initiatives – training the cadre in the use of technology, holding regular 'dabba' (tiffin-box) meetings with workers in the field, or delegation of micro-planning at booth level to party activists – without which the ideological project might not have bloomed to the extent it has.
It is the attention to such minute details that has made the BJP into an election-winning machine, and the proposed work attempts to document these details. It culminates with an overarching historic view that considers the party's current position against the background of the visions of its founders in 1951. It also attempts a prognosis of its future directions.
