The India that goes to the polls this month is a markedly less democratic one: Narendra Modi has hollowed out institutions and targeted opponents, all the while sowing inter-ethnic tensions.

Modi has always claimed that he was “an apolitical CM”. This claim extends back to his first faltering steps in the public arena, which, undeniably, have endowed him with a unique pedigree. But this claim needs to be scrutinised.

The driving force of Franco-Indian relations is elsewhere, in the sovereign realm of strategy, and indeed security, where the state’s role is greater than in the economy.

A new sequence in Indian politics has just started. When institutions of the Republic are captured by the ruling party the way they are in India today, the opposition is forced to find alternative ways and means. Rahul Gandhi first invested himself in Parliament, then embarked on a Bharat Jodo Yatra to forge a deeper connect with the people. He had to be neutralised by the ruling regime.

An excerpt from Revolutionary Passions shows that Bhagat Singh – who the Hindu Right tends to project as an antidote to the Congress and Gandhi – not only had close relations with Congress leaders, but was also critical of Hinduism.

The West needs India to balance China in the Indo-Pacific and more generally speaking because “the other side” is now forming an ever larger coalition around China and Russia, which is naturally seen as a bigger evil.

A new book shows Modi as being always sharply focused on his ultimate goal of pursuing power.

Christophe Jaffrelot reviews Bhanwar Meghwanshi's book tracing his trajectory from an RSS member to an Ambedkarite.

Two schools of Hindutva in India have converged.

The traditional under-representation of Muslims in the police, army and bureaucracy has now been extended to elected assemblies, since the rise of the BJP.

An excerpt from Dr. Ambedkar and Democracy about Ambedkar's analysis of the affinities of Buddhism with democracy that led to his conversion.

An extract from 'The Islamic Connection: South Asia and the Gulf', edited by Christophe Jaffrelot and Laurence Louër.