Books about the Modi Era are becoming Increasingly Popular. Publishers Compete to Keep up with the Turnover in India

Dive into India's political transformation with bestsellers on Modi era. Explore diverse perspectives from CEOs, academics, and self-published experts.

on Feb 20, 2024

Books about the Modi Era are becoming Increasingly Popular. Publishers Compete to Keep up with the Turnover in India | Frontlist

The market is filled with books covering every conceivable aspect of the Modi period. And they are not only written by journalists and professors. A new breed of writers is rising, including CEOs, IT gurus, RSS subscribers, and self-published experts.

A group of college students browse the bestsellers area of a book kiosk at the New Delhi World Book Fair. Almost every book they're looking at is on Prime Minister Modi.

Students at the book fair cannot avoid Modi-isms, from his views on social harmony and women's empowerment to his impact on the middle class and how he is 'a true Sikh'.

If customers become tired of Modi's ideas, they can just move on to the next stand and meet external affairs minister S Jaishankar or chemicals and fertiliser minister Mansukh Mandaviya, both of whom have new books out on Modi's foreign and fertiliser policies.
"When citizens read, the country leads," declares Modi on many cutouts and hoardings scattered throughout the book expo.

India is evolving. And Indians are reading more about the transformation, particularly novels about Modi and his new India. This passion has created a new generation of publications, and the market is saturated with books about every conceivable aspect of the Modi era. And they are not only written by journalists and academics.

A new breed of writers is rising, including CEOs, computer gurus, RSS believers, and self-published specialists.

Books about the Modi period are now a thriving knowledge-production sector, intended to reflect India's political turmoil. The BJP already has the numbers; all it needs now is narrative shaping and intellectual capture.

"In the previous ten years, we've witnessed tremendous change in every facet of India. Modi's ideas are driving this shift, and we are inspired by them," says Prabhat Kumar, director of the publishing house Prabhat Prakashan. It was their stall where the students were examining Modi's views on numerous topics. "That is why people are interested in his ideas, and why we write books about them. That's what everyone wants to know."

Publishers claim they defer to the market; they merely fulfil the demand. And it's a growing market, expected to reach $12 billion by the end of 2024. In reality, India is regarded as the world's largest market for books and publishing.

Every politics area on publisher websites is brimming with titles depicting various elements of Modi's India. Not only are books on history and politics popular, but so are biographies, works on foreign policy, development, and law. They are being commissioned and offered to a hungry consumer eager to learn everything about a new, rebranded India under Modi's leadership.

The Amazon bestsellers list is another evidence. Jaishankar's Why Bharat Matters is among the top 100 books sold in India, and it has constantly led the political bestseller list since its release in early 2024. J Sai Deepak's India That is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilization, and Constitution and Anand Ranganathan's Hindus in Hindu Rashtra are also close behind.

"Isn't your library full of books on Modi and Modi's era?" asks Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a journalist and author of the 2013 biography Narendra Modi: The Man. "He remains the dominant figure in India's social narrative. Just like Indira Gandhi was once — although at the time, the Indian publishing landscape was still developing, and there wasn't as much nonfiction writing in English.

Now, you can't spend five minutes with newspapers, magazines, television, or social media without seeing Modi."