In 2012 Narendra Modi became the first BJP politician to be thrice elected to lead a state of the Indian Union, his stewardship as chief minister of Gujarat being the longest in that state’s history. Modi and his supporters explained his achievement by pointing to economic growth under his leadership, yet detractors point out that Modi has been more business-friendly than market-friendly―to the benefit of large industrial corporations, and at the cost of great social polarisation.

A marketing genius, Modi’s messaging combines the politics of Hindutva with economic modernisation, to the clear appreciation of Gujarat’s middle class.

In this new and revelatory book, Christophe Jaffrelot shows how Modi’s Gujarat served as a blueprint for Modi’s India, not only in terms of Hindu majoritarianism and national populism, but also of caste and class politics.