The Believer'S Dilemma Av Abhishek Choudhary

<p><b>'The finest biography of an Indian prime minister that I have read' Ramachandra Guha<br>'Doubles as a history of Hindu supremacism; it won&rsquo;t be bettered for a long time&rsquo; Pankaj Mishra </b><br><br>Charismatic, sensitive, detached yet quietly ambitious, India&rsquo;s fabled twelfth prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a man of unusual gifts and some dangerous flaws. His unintended entry into politics came in 1948 when he was an underground organizer of the proscribed Hindu-revivalist group, the RSS, one of whose adherents assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.<br><br>In 1957, he became the first RSS swayamsevak (volunteer) to win a seat in India&rsquo;s parliament, the Lok Sabha. Soon, he became popular for his fiery speeches and maudlin poetry, bridging the contrasting worldviews of India&rsquo;s first prime minister, the liberal Jawaharlal Nehru, and Vinayak Savarkar, the leader of the conservative Hindu Mahasabha. In 1998, he became prime minister and steered India to a multi-party democracy. But his premiership also paved the way for Hindu revivalism and the rise to the power of the BJP. Abhishek Choudhary&rsquo;s <i>Believer&rsquo;s Dilemma</i> is a riveting account of the long career of one of the most influential and enigmatic Indian politicians, from his origins in Gwalior to his membership of the RSS, from his co-founding of the BJP to his premiership and its aftermath.</p>