A Mirror to Power: The Politics of a Fractured Decade

MJ Akbar

HarperCollins

320 pages, Rs.699

Akbar, a veteran Indian journalist and a spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party, presents a collection of essays on the changing social, economic and political landscapes of India and the subcontinent. In a grand parade of observation, analysis and commentary, Akbar juggles a large cast of heroes, villains and fence-sitters from the major political and social events of the last decade. Akbar opines on leaders such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, LK Advani and Narendra Modi, and, for comparison, looks back at the towering figures of Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah; he also casts light on many of the problems ailing the Indian system, including corruption, terrorism, delays in justice and governance, and insensitivity to widespread deprivation.