In the parliamentary system of government, manifestos constitute and represent an important aspect of the democratic electoral politics as statements of a party’s ideology, response and policy. This book offers an examination of election manifestos of different political parties in India at the national level. It explores the manifesto as an input to the policy process and presents a comparative perspective and understanding on the issues and approaches of the national political parties on key affairs. The book traces the evolution of the electoral system, political parties and party manifestos in India as they emerged and developed over time. It looks at the Statutes of 1909, 1919 and 1935 along with the party manifestos and elections until 1945–46. The author further analyses Constituent Assembly debates on the electoral system and the stances of political parties on national reconstruction through documents from parties, including the Indian National Congress, the Communist Party of India, the Socialist Party, Jana Sangh and the All India Scheduled Castes Federation. Covering manifestos of sixteen Lok Sabha Elections (from the first general election of 1952 to 2014), this book provides a comprehensive overview of how major political parties think on significant social, economic, political, foreign and defence-related issues. It will be useful to scholars and researchers of political science, election studies, modern Indian history, public administration, law and governance, sociology, media and journalism as also to legislators and policymakers.

'India and Identity: Some Reflections' is an edited book, comprising fifty-two articles, written by distinguished scholars of arts and social sciences, mainly reflecting the multifarious and multilayer identities of India and Indians. It covers the arena of Indian history, culture, politics, society, economy, regions, languages, religions, castes, classes, and ethnicity which has traveled since remote ancient times to the recent twenty-first century. We hope that this book will provide a scope for an intellectual discourse on India and the diversified issues of Identities and enlighten our existing knowledge

This book investigates the interplay of internal and external constraints, challenges and possibilities regarding foreign policy in India. It is the first attempt to systematically analyse and focus on the different actors and institutions in the domestic and international contexts who impose and push for various directions in India’s foreign policy. Rather than focusing on any one particular theme, the book explores the myriad aspects of foreign policymaking and the close interface between the domestic and external aspects in Indian policymaking. In turn, this relates to the structural issues shaping and reshaping the Asian regional dynamics and India’s connectivity within a globalized world. This book will be of great interest to postgraduate students; scholars of Asian Studies, development, and political science and international relations; and all those involved in policy – especially foreign policy – within India and South Asia. It will also be useful for people working in professional branches of consultancy and the private sector dealing with India and with South Asia in general.

This invaluable collection of information provides an in-depth guide to the regional dimension of the politics and economy of this vast and complex country. Incomparable in its coverage, which includes a detailed chronology for India as a whole, a bibliography, contact details for leading officials, and an historical account and economic survey for each of the twenty-nine states and seven territories, it supplies the reader with a more complete understanding of India as a whole.

Ever wondered what it takes to run a nation and be the Prime Minister? Except for billionaires and millionaires, every family or individual must budget for their daily existence. Our expenditures must be commensurate with our incomes. Wants are unlimited while resources are limited. Each family has their own priorities. Expenditures on food, clothing and accommodation consume most of a family’s income. Of whatever little remains, some want to spend on upgrading their capabilities/skills to enjoy a better tomorrow, while others want to spend on pomp and pleasure. It’s nobody’s business to pass comments on the conduct of any individual. However, when it comes to a family or a nation, the choices must be made in consideration of the overall benefits and priorities of its members. Budgeting, in a sense, reflects our priorities or strategies towards the pursuit of happiness. The question is whether we are equally capable of prioritizing and strategizing for the nation. Can we act in the interests of all stakeholders and be a trusty of national wealth? This book tries to explore the actions of a Prime Minister, keeping the India of 1947–64 in the backdrop.

A wide-reaching collection of groundbreaking feminist documents from around the world Feminist Manifestos is an unprecedented collection of 150 documents from feminist organizations and gatherings in over 50 countries over the course of three centuries. In the first book of its kind, the manifestos are shown to contain feminist theory and recommend actions for change, and also to expand our very conceptions of feminist thought and activism. Covering issues from political participation, education, religion and work to reproduction, violence, racism, and environmentalism, the manifestos together challenge simplistic definitions of gender and feminist movements in exciting ways. In a wide-ranging introduction, Penny Weiss explores the value of these documents, especially how they speak with and to each other. In addition, an introduction to each individual document contextualizes and enhances our understanding of it. Weiss is particularly invested in how communities work together toward social change, which is demonstrated through her choice to include only collectively authored texts. By assembling these documents into an accessible volume, Weiss reveals new possibilities for social justice and ways to advocate for equality. A unique and inspirational collection, Feminist Manifestos expands and evolves our understanding of feminism through the self-described agendas of women from every ethnic group, religion, and region in the world.

The last decade of the nineteenth century witnessed, for the first time, the demand for a federal polity premised on the principle of linguistic provinces. The regional Chambers of Commerce in the Telugu, Bengali and Tamil linguistic regions were the first to put forth such a demand before the Congress and the colonial state. The Indian National Congress agreed to it in 1920 and reorganized provincial Congress organizations, which had been earlier based on politico-administrative boundaries of the British Indian provinces, on linguistic lines under a new party constitution under Gandhi's influence. However, once it came to power at the Centre in 1947 the national Congress leadership changed its stand. In 1953, under the pressure of a mass upsurge, the Nehru government was compelled to set up a State Reorganisation Commission to consider the question of the creation of linguistic states. In the past 63 years, several works have been published on the theme of 'state politics', but most writers have concentrated on electoral politics. This book, however, discusses different aspects of politics in the 27 states and 2 Union Territories with legislative assemblies (with some minor omissions which are regretted). For example, it analyses the different social structures, levels of economic development, landholding patterns, party systems, voting behaviour, political culture and governance and politics of each state. It discusses their internal dynamics which are influenced by the size of the population, demography, territory and topography, economy, and the power structure of the different classes and communities. The book also takes into account the commonalities across the boundaries at both, the micro and the macro levels, such as the expansion and intensification of capitalist social relations into the innermost areas, breakdown of old structures and social mores, emergence of civil society, development of administrative transparency, growth of alternative party systems and the linkages of each state/region with the nation and global capital. The liberalization of economy over the last few decades has accelerated the growth of commonalities across the states through a growing uniformity of production processes and consumer culture.