When The Wind Blows - India's Ballot Box Revolution

Summary

The rendered pages are promotional and front-matter material for When The Wind Blows - India’s Ballot Box Revolution, a 482-page account by S. P. Aiyar and S. V. Raju. Reviews describe the book as a documented, relatively even-tempered study of the political developments leading to the Emergency, the Emergency administration and Resistance, the formation of the Janata party, and the March 1977 election. The contents page lists chapters covering Indira Gandhi’s India, the deepening Emergency, legitimacy, opposition strategy, alliances, elections, campaign finance, the popular vote, perspective, and statistical data, followed by references and an index.

Key points

• The work is presented as a 482-page study of India from the period preceding the Emergency through the March 1977 election.
• Visible reviews emphasize explanation of how and why the Emergency developed, rather than a simple chronology of events.
• The book treats the Emergency opposition as the “Resistance,” and reviewers particularly praise that chapter for detail and language.
• The formation of the Janata party and the electoral battle of March 1977 are identified as central subjects.
• The authors are credited with using newspaper reports, foreign newspapers, underground Emergency literature, and revelations before the Shah Commission.
• The contents indicate sustained attention to legitimacy, alliances, election fairness, campaign money, voting, statistical data, references, and indexing.
• The author biographies present S. P. Aiyar as a political scientist and public-administration scholar and S. V. Raju as a former Swatantra Party executive secretary and political executive.