Prannoy Roy in Abu Dhabi
File photo of NDTV Prannoy Roy | Photo by Ana-Bianca Marin/Getty Images
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The Verdict: Decoding India’s Elections, is not just the most awaited book on this election, it is also a seminal contribution to election studies in India.

The authors, Prannoy Roy and Dorab Sopariwala, are synonymous with Indian elections. For nearly four decades now, Prannoy Roy has dominated Indian elections more than any one political leader! His affable and assuring presence on television inaugurated and has since defined the coverage of Indian elections. Not many remember now that Prannoy Roy also initiated serious election forecasting in India through path-breaking forecasts of the 1980 and the 1984 general elections in India Today. And only election junkies like me would remember his first book (A Compendium of Indian Elections, co-authored with David Butler and Ashok Lahiri, published by Arnold-Heinemann in 1984) that redefined the field of what was to be called psephology.

There are many reasons I should not review this book. I was one of those umpteen youngsters who was awe-struck with Prannoy Roy’s election analysis and in good measure inspired by him to take to the study of elections. I have had the good fortune of working closely with Dr Roy and Dorab Sopariwala, and benefit of their collegiality and good humour. Finally, I was lucky enough to read an earlier version of a few chapters of this book and offer a few comments, something the authors acknowledge very generously.

So, let me not pretend to offer a neutral academic review. Instead, let me just list seven theses in the book that surprised me. Each of these is backed by solid research presented in stunningly simple tables so characteristic of Dr Roy’s work. Here it goes.

These are seven reasons why someone who may have spent years looking at election data may still find this deceptively simple and readable book engaging. I can already see here seven doctoral dissertations elaborating and exploring these seven points. Or perhaps many more.

Yogendra Yadav is National President of Swaraj India.

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