The Indian election that concluded yesterday -- the results of the six-week voting marathon will be announced on Thursday -- has been fought as much on the ground as in the literary space. Publishers have launched dozens of books on politics and elections since January.
Visit the Facebook page of Westland Publications, for instance, and you will be greeted by the tagline #ReadBeforeYouVote, next to cover images of four of its recently published books about politics and elections.
All four titles have appeared in the past month, clearly in an attempt to tap into high public interest in the campaign: BJP: Kal, Aaj Aur Kal (BJP: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow) by television journalist Vijay Trivedi; The RSS: Icons of the Right by television commentator Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay; Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation) by Ashutosh, the former leader the Aam Aadmi Party; and Citizen Raj (Citizen Rule) by economist Surjit S Bhalla.
Penguin Random House India, meanwhile, has launched nine books in the past five four months including The Verdict: Decoding India's Elections by New Delhi Television owner Prannoy Roy and election analyst Dorab R Sopariwala. Manas Publications, another publisher based in Delhi, is marketing half a dozen books written on governance, intelligence and politics.
Given the blanket coverage of political campaigning and electioneering in recent months in newspapers, online and on TV, book publishers do not want to be left behind.
Two of the many topical titles being promoted on the website of Penguin Random House India. (Photo courtesy of Penguin.co.in)
"Our books cover a range of topics relevant to the elections, from an analytical understanding of the Indian political and election environment to a more anecdotal and insight-oriented take," said Nandan Jha, senior vice-president for products and sales at Penguin Random House India. "We also bring out political biographies and autobiographies of prominent personalities.
"Titles such as the bestselling The Verdict by Prannoy Roy and Dorab R Sopariwala, and Democracy on the Road by Ruchir Sharma or How to Win an Indian Election by Shivam Shankar Singh cut across readership demands, and anyone who wants a more detailed and measured standpoint on the elections would reach for these books."
When it comes to marketing political books in the current high season, publishers and writers aren't above tweaking the titles to make them more topical. Author Ravindra S Mathur did not protest when Manas Publications proprietor Vivek Garg suggested adding the suffix "Power for Patronage" to the title of his book, Craft of Politics. Mr Mathur offers a unique perspective, having served as chief secretary in Uttar Pradesh when an unprecedented and awkward situation arose in the state with two politicians occupying the chief minister's chair for about five days.
Mr Mathur said in a conversation with Asia Focus that his books deal with "power, patronage and privileges" which defined the political ecosystem "we were part of". While he criticises the institutions and structures of governance, he does so without being overly critical of individual politicians in his book.
Mr Ashutosh (he uses only one name), a former journalist and the author of Hindu Rashtra, believes contemporary political writings have experienced massive growth since 2012 when the Gandhian activist and anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare drew widespread attention with his campaign for transparency in governance. He calls it good for democracy.
A promotion for Democracy on the Road by Ruchir Sharma appears on the Penguin India website. (Photo courtesy of Penguin.co.in)
"Books on politics receive a fair share of attention during elections considering their pertinence," added Mr Jha of Penguin Random House. "Content consumption thrives on relevance and bringing out politically themed books at the time of elections is an effective marketing strategy.
"As a publishing house, it shows we are participating in the current social environment around us and gives people a range of topics within the subject matter to explore and even understand the systems and processes better."
Mr Ashutosh's book is critical of Hindutva, an ideology that he says exploits religion for political gain, and is the mainstay of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its affiliates.
He viewed the just-concluded campaign as a fight between liberal Hindus and the Hindutva espoused by BJP and allied groups. A consequence of the hard-sell approach of Hindutva, according to Mr Ashutosh, is that no political party in the country -- not even Congress, the main opposition party, and Samajwadi, a regional party supported by Muslims and the Yadav caste in the past -- talks of Muslims anymore.
Mr Ashutosh believes that Hindutva as an ideology is here to stay. "RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the parent body of the BJP) members are not untouchable anymore. People are clicking (pictures) with them. They will be a force to reckon with even if the BJP loses," he said.
Like the political space which is clearly divided between pro-Modi and anti-Modi parties, the literary space in India mirrors that split. Books by left liberals -- Mr Ashutosh, former BJP figure Shivam Shankar Singh, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay and others -- are critical of the right-wing groups. Writers like former chief vigilance commissioner N Vittal (Future of Governance: From India to Bharat and Modi's Miracle: Shift to the Right), Trivedi and Surjit S Bhalla are sympathetic to the saffron wing.
Even some publishers are known for their allegiance or antipathy to certain political causes and views. Mr Garg of Manas Publications is considered close to the BJP, while Westland Publications and Penguin Random House India occupy a more neutral space.
Harper Collins, on the other hand, prefers to publish investigative and informative books on elections and politics. Its latest publications are How to Rig an Election: Tricks Despots Play by Brian Klaas and Nic Cheeseman; India Misinformed: The True Story by Pratik Sinha, Dr Sumaiya Shaikh and Arjun Sidharth; Every Vote Counts: The Story of India's Elections, by former chief election commissioner Naveen Chawla; and Elections in India: Everything You Need to Know by Robinage.
The forecasts by election writers are, more often than not, also coloured by their likes and dislikes. Mr Vittal claims to know the "real mind of Modi" and strongly stands by him. He believes that under Mr Modi India is asserting itself. He debunks the "intellectual arrogance" of left-liberals.
Shivam Shankar Singh, author of How to Win an Indian Election, on the other hand, comes down heavily on his former party, alleging that the BJP has mastered a strategy whereby it has obliterated the work done by its predecessors.
"The Congress government (led by Manmohan Singh) electrified 550,000 villages before 2014. The Modi government electrified the remaining 18,000 villages. Yet it formed a narrative that the other was terrible," said Mr Singh, whose Public Relations Advocacy group works for opposition parties in Bihar state.
