New Delhi: A new book written by award-winning senior journalist and columnist Abhigyan Prakash explores the political importance of the state of Uttar Pradesh.
About the book, Prakash says, “Born in Banaras and brought up in Lucknow, naturally this book has my emotions and closeness to my heart regarding Uttar Pradesh.”
Prakash, who has reported on and analysed the state and national politics for over two decades, explains that the concerns mentioned in the book have been there with him for a very long time.
Published by HarperCollins, “From Lucknow to Lutyens: The Power and Plight of Uttar Pradesh” will be released on 21 March on Softcover, ThePrint’s online venue to launch non-fiction books.
Executive Editor of HarperCollins India, Siddesh Inamdar said, “Abhigyan Prakash, with his extensive experience of analysing all matters UP, puts the state in that broader perspective for lay readers as well as political observers alike.”
“We are delighted to be publishing and hope it will make a valuable contribution to the debate on the road ahead for UP,” he added.
Uttar Pradesh sends the highest number of members to Parliament and has the biggest legislature in the country, along with having the most of India’s prime ministers to its credit.
In this context, Prakash explores why despite having such enormous political presence and clout sending to Delhi the maximum numbers of Prime Ministers, Uttar Pradesh still lacked growth and remained “far from realising its full potential”.
The author says: “Despite UP’s central importance in the Indian scheme of things, in post-Independence India it was still an underdeveloped state, far, far from realizing its full potential for impactful and inclusive socio-political and economic growth. This was puzzling and made me curious about exploring its modern history.”
Prakash notes that the current state of affairs links back to patterns and trends that have prevailed for decades — the rise and decline of parties, the growth of caste as a decisive factor, leaders switching sides on the eve of elections and of course religion as a political plank.
“The book is an attempt to dive into those pertinent questions and understand the many facets of the answer,” he says.
Also read: New book traces journey of Gujarmal Modi who built one of India’s largest business empires