Alf Gunvald Nilsen is Professor of Sociology at University of Pretoria. He is the author of Citizenship in India's Bhil Heartland among other books.Kenneth Bo Nielsen is Associate Professor in the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages at the University of Oslo. He is the author of Land Dispossession and Everyday Politics in Rural Eastern​ India.Anand Vaidya is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Reed College.

• Acknowledgements Introduction: Trajectories and Crossroads: Indian Democracy at 70 - Alf Gunvald Nilsen, Kenneth Bo Nielsen and Anand Vaidya1. Democratic Origins I: India’s Constitution and the Missing Revolution - Sandipto Dasgupta2. Democratic Origins II: The Minority Question in South Asia - Anupama Rao3. Democratic Origins III: Violence and/in the Making of Indian Democracy - Sunil Purushotham4. Democratic Origins IV: Comment - Ajay Skaria5. The State and/of the Media in Modi’s India - Siddharth Varadarajan6. Writing Counter-insurgency, Conflict and Democracy - Nandini Sundar and Dolly Kikon7. Democratic Trajectories I: Congressism, Anti-Congressism, and Composing the ‘People-as-a-Whole’ - Subir Sinha8. Democratic Trajectories II: Merit and Caste in Contemporary India - Ajantha Subramanian9. Democratic Trajectories III: Ritual Inclusivity in Turbulent Times - Kathinka Frøystad10. Democratic Trajectories IV: Comment - Manali Desai11. India’s Democracy: Contest for the Nation’s Core - Kavita Krishnan12. Feminism and the Politics of Gender - Raka Ray and Srila RoyConclusion: Indian Democracy and Its Prospects: 2019 and Beyond - Alf Gunvald Nilsen, Kenneth Bo Nielsen and Anand VaidyaAbout the Editors Notes on Contributors Notes Index

'Indian democracy is a veritable riddle with its constitution promising the moon to people but its state denying them even the basic right to voice their miseries. This book will certainly provoke readers who still see nothing wrong with the system'