The story of the forging of India, the world's largest democracy, is a rich and inspiring one. This volume, a sequel to the best-selling India's Struggle for Independence, analyses the challenges India has faced and the successes it has achieved, in the light of its colonial legacy and century-long struggle for freedom. The book describes how the Constitution was framed, as also how the Nehruvian political and economic agenda and basics of foreign policy were evolved and developed. It dwells on the consolidation of the nation, examining contentious issues like party politics in the Centre and the states, the Punjab problem, and anti-caste politics and untouchability. This revised edition offers a scathing analysis of the growth of communalism in India and the use of state power in furthering its cause. It also documents the fall of the National Democratic Alliance in the 2004 General Elections, the United Progressive Alliance's subsequent rise to power and the Indo-US Nuclear Deal that served to unravel the political consensus at the centre.
Apart from detailed analyses of Indian economic reforms since 1991 and wide-ranging land reforms and the Green Revolution, this new edition includes an overview of the Indian economy in the new millennium.
These, along with objective assessments of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, constitute a remarkable overview of a nation on the move.
Preface to the Revised Edition
Chapter 2. The Colonial Legacy
Chapter 3. The National Movement and its Legacy
Chapter 4. The Evolution of the Constitution and Main Provisions
Chapter 5. The Architecture of the Constitution: Basic Features and Institutions
Chapter 7. Consolidation of India as a Nation (I)
Chapter 8. Consolidation of India as a Nation(II): The Linguistic Reorganization of the States
Chapter 9. Consolidation of India as a Nation(III): Integration of the Tribals
Chapter 10. Consolidation of India as a Nation(IV): Regionalism and Regional Inequality
Chapter 11. The Years of Hope and Achievement, 1951–1964
Chapter 12. Foreign Policy: The Nehru Era
Chapter 13. Jawaharlal Nehru in Historical Perspective
Chapter 14. Political Parties, 1947–1964: The Congress
Chapter 15. Political Parties, 1947–1965: The Opposition
Chapter 16. From Shastri to Indira Gandhi, 1964–1969
Chapter 17. The Indira Gandhi Years, 1969–1973
Chapter 18. The JP Movement and the Emergency: Indian Democracy Tested
Chapter 19. The Janata Interregnum and Indira Gandhi’s Second Coming, 1977–1984
Chapter 21. Run-up to the New Millennium and After
Chapter 22. Politics in the States (I): Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Assam
Chapter 23. Politics in the States (II): West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir
Chapter 25. Indian Economy, 1947–1965: The Nehruvian Legacy
Chapter 26. Indian Economy, 1965–1991
Chapter 27. Economic Reforms Since 1991
Chapter 28. The Indian Economy in the New Millennium
Chapter 29. Land Reforms (I): Colonial Impact and the Legacy of the National and Peasant Movements
Chapter 30. Land Reforms(II): Zamindari Abolition and Tenancy Reforms
Chapter 31. Land Reforms (III): Ceiling and the Bhoodan Movement
Chapter 32. Cooperatives and an Overview of Land Reforms
Chapter 33. Agricultural Growth and the Green Revolution
Chapter 34. Agrarian Struggles Since Independence
Chapter 35. Revival and Growth of Communalism
Chapter 36. Communalism and the Use of State Power
Chapter 37. Caste, Untouchability, Anti-caste Politics and Strategies
Chapter 38. Indian Women Since Independence
Chapter 39. The Post-colonial Indian State and the Political Economy of Development: An Overview
Chapter 40. Disarray in Institutions of Governance
Chapter 41. The Dawn of the New Millennium: Achievements, Problems and Prospects