However, when Smriti Irani stepped into this constituency as the BJP candidate for the 2014 elections, the truth behind the Amethi myth became apparent, Irani was struck by the dereliction of the place and its people. Amethi was neglected, backward and depressed about its future. It had become little more than a political tourist destination that politicians, industrialists, middlemen and the media stepped into and dealt with as they pleased.
Tracing Irani's footsteps from her defeat in 2014 to her win in 2019, senior journalist Anant Vijay attempts to understand the reasons behind her success in Amethi, shining a light on both Irani's personality and her political methods. Through the political history of what was once a Congress bastion, this book examines how Indian political parties function in a democracy like ours-from the national level to the local leaders. Vijay's book is also a keen study of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's working style, its strategies and execution that backed the BJP and Smriti Irani's efforts from 2014 to 2019, playing a key role in her victory.
Debdutta Bhattacharjee is Assistant Editor at Daily and Online News Network. A product of Hindu College (Delhi University) and Delhi School of Economics, he has varied experience in journalism, having worked for frontline media organisations. He has published nearly 250 articles covering subjects from politics to economy and sports to aviation.
During many of my Amethi visits, I used to simply roam around to get a sense of the mood of the people there. I would stop anywhere and chat with people to collect information that would be useful for this book. In Lucknow, I met the leaders of different political parties. Now that the book is in your hands, the credit for that should go to these people who helped me understand Amethi and its grassroots politics. At the outset, I would like to express my gratitude towards Smriti Iraniji who shared her thoughts about Amethi with me. She never avoided my questions and answered them with considerable clarity-many thanks to Smritiji. Union minister Dr Sanjeev Balyan narrated his experiences of the Amethi election for several hours. My heartfelt thanks to Balyanji. I would also like to thank the Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawantji. I was allotted an hour by the chief minister's office, but when we sat down at his residence, we continued to chat on the Amethi election for nearly two-and-a-half hours.
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