10 books on Indian elections !

          What was once derisively called the "biggest gamble in history" is now the biggest celebration of democracy in the world. Even as we count the days down to the 17th Lok Sabha elections, I recommend ten excellent books on Indian elections :

1. "How India became democratic" by Ornit Shani , 2018 : The book tells the untold story of how the first electoral roll on the basis of universal adult franchise was prepared in the world's largest democracy.

2. "An Undocumented Wonder : The making of the great Indian elections" by S.Y.Qureshi , 2014 : A former Chief Election Commissioner throws light on different aspects of elections like Model Code of Conduct, SVEEP, Inclusive elections ,electoral reforms etc.

3. "The Great March of Democracy" edited by S.Q.Qureshi , 2019 : This anthology features essays on multiple dimensions of elections by veterans such as T.N.Seshan and Mark Tully, among others. It celebrates seven decades of India's elections.

4."When Crime Pays : Money and muscle in Indian politics" by Milan Vaishnav , 2017 : A thoroughly researched original volume which deals with "a peculiar paradox of Indian politics, namely, the coexistence of criminality and democratic vigour"

5. "Every vote counts : The story of India's elections" by Navin Chawla,2019 : A former Chief Election Commissioner's memoir ,the highlights of which are his experiences of conducting elections in the charged regions of Kashmir and Maoist affected areas.

6. "The verdict : Decoding Indian elections" by Prannoy Roy and Dorab R.Sopariwala, 2019: Two veteran psephologists mix anecdote with research to provide a miniature electoral history of India from 1952 to 2019. An important chapter is on the choice of the Indian woman voter.

7. "Democracy on the Road" by Ruchir Sharma , 2019 : The author ,along with other Delhi based journalists. had embarked on road trips across the country to gauge the mood of the voter before any major election since 1998. The experiences of these 25 years is condensed into a highly readable and engaging account.

8. "Costs of democracy : Political finance in India" , edited by Devesh Kapur and Milan Vaishnav ,2018 : This volume is an "exhaustive,ground-breaking study of money in Indian politics". The book advocates stronger electoral reforms in the realm of finance.

9. "Why India votes" by Mukulika Banerjee,2014 : An anthropology professor's ethnographic study based in 12 places across India during the 2009 general elections. It "probes the motivations of ordinary voters" and tries to understand their choices.

10."India after Gandhi" by Ramachandra Guha, 2017 : The book is about much more than just elections but Guha is at his best when he chronicles the history of elections. His research reveals the mind of many a doubting journalist who kept writing obituaries for Indian democracy. The obituaries have been given a burial but the Indian electoral democracy marches on.

Happy reading :)