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Please click on the covers above for the various editions and translations of the book. Scroll below for details of the versions of the book, its details, and a sampling of press coverage.
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VERSIONS OF THE BOOK
The book has been translated into Hindi (also by Penguin Random House) in February 2021, and into Telugu (by Emesco Publications) in November 2020. The book is being published in the United Kingdom as 'India Before Modi: How the BJP Came to Power' by the scholarly press, Hurst Books, in August 2021. The book will be distributed in the United States by Oxford University Press.
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WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT
Narendra Modi has been a hundred years in the making, and this book provides the backstory to his current dominance of Indian politics. It begins with the creation of Hindu nationalism as a response to British-induced elections in the 1920s, on to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s founding in 1980, and ends with its first national government, from 1998 to 2004. And it follows this journey through the entangled lives of its founding jugalbandi: Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. The Indian version, titled 'Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi' was published by Penguin Random House in November 2020.
Through their six-decade long relationship, Vajpayee and Advani worked as a team despite differences in personality and beliefs. What kept them together was personal love and professional synergy of course, but also an ideology that stressed unity. Their partnership explains what the BJP was, and why it won.
In supporting roles are a cast of characters – from the warden’s wife who made room for Vajpayee in her family, to the billionaire grandson of Pakistan’s founder who was the BJP’s early funder. Based on private papers, party documents, newspapers, and over two hundred interviews, this is a must read for those interested in the ideology that now rules India.
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PRINT COVERAGE
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New book to document journey of BJP, Modi’s current popularity, Hindustan Times, November 05, 2020
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Coomi Kapoor, Inside Track: Sitapati’s new book traces the complex relationship between Vajpayee & Advani, The Indian Express, November 08, 2020
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Priya Sahgal, Cool Breeze: Book on Vajpayee-Advani, Sunday Guardian Live, November 13, 2020
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When the Vajpayee 'parivar' made the Sangh Parivar uneasy, Times of India, November 22, 2020
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Book Excerpt: What Is The BJP’s Economic Ideology?, BloombergQuint, November 23, 2020
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Gulam Jeelani, The secret sauce of BJP’s success is its teamwork, Vinay Sitapati, author of Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi, Moneycontrol, November 23, 2020
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Sanjaya Baru, Book Review: The Yin and Yang in BJP's Rise, The Wire, November 24, 2020
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The power of two: Modi and Shah are the latest in a long line of jugalbandis in BJP, The Indian Express, November 25, 2020
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Aravindan Neelakandan, Vajpayee And Advani: The Yin Yang Of Hindutva, Swarajya, November 27, 2020
Rohan Venkataramakrishnan, Interview: Vinay Sitapati on Vajpayee, Advani and the success of the Hindu nationalist movement, Scroll.in, November 28, 2020
Ira Pande, The ‘jugalbandi’ worth emulating, The Tribune, November 29, 2020
Explained Ideas: How will history judge the Narendra Modi, Amit Shah duo?, The Indian Express, December 01, 2020
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Congress first political party to encourage Ayodhya movement, says new book, Outlook, December, 02, 2020
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The Lead: Read(s) of the week — The story of the BJP-duo in Jugalbandi by Vinay Sitapati, Deccan Herald, December 03, 2020
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Anna Isaac, Vajpayee-Advani, Modi-Shah duo are different: 'Jugalbandi' author Vinay Sitapati,The News Minute, December 04, 2020
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Ishwar Ranjana, How much difference between the views of Vajpayee-Advani and Modi Shah? QuintHindi, December 04, 2020
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Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Partnerships in power: The story Vajpayee-Advani jugalbandi, Business Standard, December 05, 2020
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Varghese K. George, ‘Jugalbandi: The BJP before Modi’ review: Hindutva’s birth and growth, The Hindu, December 5 2020
Jugalbandi: Ashutosh said on 'BJP before Modi' book - LK Advani is more principled than Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jansatta, December 06, 2020
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Ashutosh, How Vajpayee and Advani made BJP relevant in national politics, The Indian Express, December 06, 2020
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Vandana, The Hindu Fevicol that holds BJP’s power duos together: Book Review, DailyO, December 10, 2020
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Karan Thapar, Atal-Advani: The jugalbandi in the BJP, Hindustan Times, December 12, 2020
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Did Amit Shah write a protest note to PM Vajpayee on nuclear tests in 1998?, National Herald, December 14, 2020
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Sriram Karri, Mahatma’s assassination delayed Hindutva supremacy by two generations: Sitapati, Deccan Chronicle, December 16, 2020
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Sriram Karri, 'Sangh suffers from Islamophobia but sincerely wants to eradicate caste animosity', Deccan Chronicle, December 17, 2020
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Sriram Karri, 'Modi, like RSS, is not dogmatic on economy. But he is close to a Gandhian socialist', Deccan Chronicle December 18, 2020
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Book Discussion | Jugalbandi: The BJP before Modi, ORF, December 19, 2020
L Subramani, Playing a delicate political duet, Deccan Herald, December 20, 2020
The Lead: The BJP's jugalbandi, Deccan Herald, December 21, 2020
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Why does the BJP keep winning? New book says it is all about organisation and unity, The Indian Express, December 28, 2020
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Pallavi Saluja, Vajpayee, the arguing counsel and Advani the Solicitor: Vinay Sitapati speaks on the BJP before Modi in his book Jugalbandi, Bar and Bench, December 31, 2020
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Amitabh Ranjan, Jugalbandi: The BJP before Modi review – Two political journeys and an ideology, Financial Express, January 03, 2021.
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VIDEO COVERAGE
Scholar Vinay Sitapati on his pathbreaking new book ‘BJP before Modi’ & Vajpayee-Advani Jugalbandi, The Print, Youtube, November 22, 2020
Why Narendra Modi Is A 100-Year Old Project: In Conversation With Vinay Sitapati, Bloomberg Quint, Youtube, November 23, 2020.
BJP Before Narendra Modi | Revelations in new book on Vajpayee-Advani | Vinay Sitapati, Mojo Story, Youtube, November 24, 2020
Vinay Sitapati: Advani, Vajpayee were bridge politicians as opposed to Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, The Economic Times, Youtube, November 24, 2020
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Vinay Sitapati Discusses His Book 'Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi' With Arihant | Vajpayee & Advani, Swarajya, Youtube, December 07, 2020
Jugalbandi, Bangalore International Centre, Youtube, December 10, 2020
'In '98, Amit Shah Criticised Nuke Tests, Vajpayee's 'Greed for Publicity'—Author of New Book on BJP, The Wire, Youtube, December 14, 2020
Vinay Sitapati on the Political History of the BJP Before Modi | Grand Tamasha, Carnegie Endowment, Youtube, December 16, 2020
Discussion on 'Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi' by Vinay Sitapati, Centre for Policy Research, Youtube, December 20, 2020
‘Jugalbandi: BJP before Modi’: Manthan w Dr. Vinay Sitapati, Manthan Foundation, Youtube, December 27, 2020
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