The Saffron Storm: From Vajpayee to Modi

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) enjoys a predominant position in Indian politics today. In its journey from coalition to singleparty rule, the BJP has changed as much as India appears to have. Veteran journalist Saba Naqvi tells the story of the partys journey under two very different prime ministers drawn from the same ideological family. In 1998, the author attended the very modest swearingin ceremony of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the courtyard of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In 2014, she was at a mega event at the same venuewhen Narendra Modi was sworn in.The Saffron Storm is both a firstperson account of racy events as they unfolded in the nations history and a work that raises larger analytical points about the BJPs growth. It examines the role of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh cadre and its equations with elected leaders, the calibration of ideology, the issue of political finance and the social expansion of the party, as also the cults of personality that would emerge around, first, Vajpayee and then, more forcefully, around Modi. The book provides a riveting account of the partys journey from untouchability (when allies were unwilling to join) to its presumed invincibility today.This updated edition also describes the enforcement agencies action against the partys opponents, the increasingly centralized command structure of the BJP and the implications of the delimitation exercise due in 2026. The Saffron Storm is a fascinating and readable dive into the contemporary history of the BJP.