Jugalbandi





Name : Jugalbandi
Author : Vinay Sitapati
Year of Publication : 2020
Genre : Non-fiction, Biography, Politics
Rating : *** (3 stars out of 5) 

Vinay Sitapati's sophomore work on the Advani-Vajpayee duo is a delightful mix of anecdotage, research and engaging story-telling without judgement. He unearths nuggets of information which cannot be found elsewhere : How the crowd started to cheer Vajpayee's name when Advani was about to announce BJP's prime ministerial candidate in 1995. The book's best parts relate to the 2002 National Executive wherein Modi captured the imagination of the cadre despite Vajpayee's reservations. As evident in his book on Narasimha Rao as well, Vinay's strength lies in his ability to focus on engaging trivia without losing focus on the larger picture. Followers of Hindu Nationalism should first listen to the music of "Jugalbandi" before diving into scholarly prose.

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