Defender of the Marathi manoos. Protector of Hindus. The Hindu Hriday Samrat. Bal Thackeray almost single-handedly changed Mumbai forever - not just the name of the city, but its very character and fabric.So charged was Thackerays rhetoric, so unequivocal his identification with the Hindu right that it seems counter-intuitive to claim he was not driven by ideology. Yet, that is what the facts reveal. He was capable of seeking to enter into agreements with the Muslim League and Dalit parties even as he virulently lambasted them in public. Viscerally opposed though he was to the communists and communism, he had no problems inviting the great S.A. Dange to address Sena workers.Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray is a unique insight into how a rather timid man from a modest background was shaped by circumstances and vested interests into a demagogue, with the kind of success and following few could dream of. It explores the life and times of the enigmatic person behind that powerful mask. An instance: Thackeray was mortally afraid of going to jail, a fact exploited by both his friends and enemies. That is why he supported the Emergency, and why he recanted on the Sena's role in the Babri Masjid demolition.There was never a dull moment with Bal Thackeray, and there is none in this book, packed as it is with anecdotes, stories and interviews. This is, after all, the story of the rise of the Shiv Sena and the decline of mighty Mumbai.

Bal Thackeray and his Shiv Sena exposed!Full of anecdotes and pulling no punches, Samrat explores the life and times of Bal Thackeray and attempts to bring to the readers a unique insight into how a rather timid man from the working classes was shaped by his circumstances - and certain vested interests - into becoming a demagogue with the kind of success and following few could either dream of or replicate in the future. Thackeray not just changed the name of Bombay to Mumbai but quite altered the character and fabric of the city even though he was driven not by ideology, as might have seemed to most outsiders, but by his own pragmatism and personal interests. As Vir Sanghvi says in the foreword, 'The book is an attempt to understand the milieu that Thackeray operated in and to capture the essence of his style amidst the shifting stands and the politics of pragmatism'.

Vaibhav Purandare grew up in Mumbai in the 1980s and 90s, the tumultuous decades in which Bal Thackeray and his Shiv Sena went from being regional political players to champions of a militant Hindutva that carried their rhetoric and rage across India. He began his journalistic career with the political newsmagazine Blitz in 1993, in the early part of which Thackeray and his organisation played a key role in the Mumbai riots, and has since worked with India’s leading newspapers such as The Indian Express, The Asian Age, Daily News and Analysis (DNA), Mid Day and Mumbai Mirror, apart from writing for a host of other publications. His first book, The Sena Story was published in 1999, when he was only 23. His second book, Sachin Tendulkar: A Definitive Biography (Roli Books) and is now into its fifth edition. He is currently Senior Associate Editor with the Hindustan Times, Mumbai.

This book is collection of interviews, selected controversies and statements given by Balasaheb during political journey. All materials are taken from various references.

Trail of the Tiger tracks the personal and political journey of Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray against the backdrop of the changing narrative of Hindutva, and new connotations to Hindutva's subnational plot, with the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a new Hindu Hriday Samrat. The trail of Uddhav Thackeray from a professional advertising photographer to Maharashtra's Chief Minister is not just his story. It is the story of saffron 'tiger' Balasaheb Thackeray's own family Mahabharata for political power and legacy that left the patriarch helpless during his sunset years. It is the story of one of the biggest upheavals in Indian politics where breaking a 30-year-old alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena joined Sonia Gandhi's camp, holding Sharad Pawar's finger. It is also the story of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) dilemma to deal with the tug of war in the Hindutva camp. Based on news analysis, Trail of the Tiger unpacks media content and explores intertextuality to bring readers the authentic account of the Shiv Sena's saffron to secular trajectory under the leadership of Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray.

Three informers. Murky bylanes that hold the key to deadly terror plots. The chase for India’s most wanted terrorist. The lives of three of Mumbai Police’s best informers collide in this shady underworld. It’s a bad, bad world. A world of crime, sex, drugs, murder and betrayal. He who lies, lives to see the light of another day... a day replete with even greater risks. From shady underworld dealings to switching gang loyalties, the men graduate to selling information on terrorism. Then begins the chase… to catch India’s most wanted terrorist: Riyaz Bhatkal, the man with an ominous track record of masterminding twentytwo blasts across the country since 2005. The search takes them to the most unassuming yet dangerous terror hubs across India. With trust in short supply, time ticking away and the sword of Damocles over their heads, the men can only hope that they are not on a wild goose chase.

A riveting account of how a popularly elected leader has steered the world's largest democracy toward authoritarianism and intolerance Over the past two decades, thanks to Narendra Modi, Hindu nationalism has been coupled with a form of national-populism that has ensured its success at the polls, first in Gujarat and then in India at large. Modi managed to seduce a substantial number of citizens by promising them development and polarizing the electorate along ethno-religious lines. Both facets of this national-populism found expression in a highly personalized political style as Modi related directly to the voters through all kinds of channels of communication in order to saturate the public space. Drawing on original interviews conducted across India, Christophe Jaffrelot shows how Modi's government has moved India toward a new form of democracy, an ethnic democracy that equates the majoritarian community with the nation and relegates Muslims and Christians to second-class citizens who are harassed by vigilante groups. He discusses how the promotion of Hindu nationalism has resulted in attacks against secularists, intellectuals, universities, and NGOs. Jaffrelot explains how the political system of India has acquired authoritarian features for other reasons, too. Eager to govern not only in New Delhi, but also in the states, the government has centralized power at the expense of federalism and undermined institutions that were part of the checks and balances, including India's Supreme Court. Modi's India is a sobering account of how a once-vibrant democracy can go wrong when a government backed by popular consent suppresses dissent while growing increasingly intolerant of ethnic and religious minorities.