Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize announces joint winners for 2020

The jury of the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay New India Foundation (NIF) Book Prize 2020 has for this year announced two joint winners—Amit Ahuja (for Mobilising the Marginalised: Ethnic Parties without Ethnic Movements) and Jairam Ramesh (for A Chequered Brilliance: The Many Lives of VK Krishna Menon). The two winners were selected from a diverse shortlist of six books covering a century of modern Indian history and encompassing several genres.

The Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay Book Prize recognises and celebrates excellence in non-fiction writing on modern/contemporary India by writers from all nationalities.

Ahuja is associate professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, while Ramesh, a Rajya Sabha MP, is the author of several well-known books, including Indira Gandhi: A Life in Nature and Intertwined Lives: PN Haksar and Indira Gandhi. The winners were selected by a six-member jury panel, including political scientist and author Niraja Gopal Jayal (jury chair), historian and critically-acclaimed author Ramachandra Guha, entrepreneur and author Nandan Nilekani, historian and author Srinath Raghavan, historian and author Nayanjot Lahiri and Manish Sabharwal, chairman of Teamlease Services.

The 2020 winners will share the prize money of Rs 15 lakh for their respective books and will each receive the Book Prize trophy. Established in 2018, the Kamaladevi NIF Book Prize builds on the New India Foundation’s mission of sponsoring high-quality research and writing on all aspects of independent India.