Meghand Desai reflects on Indian democracy as it completes seventy years of colourful, eventful and energetic parliamentary existence. Pulling no punches, Desai looks at the history and evolution of Indian democratic institutions, pinpointing their achievements, but also their repeated failure to live up to the standards envisaged by the nation’s founders. His own career as a Labour peer in Britain’s House of Lords has given Desai a rare understanding and familiarity with the process of politics, and he is able therefore to identify the universal features and zoom in on its uniquely Indian aspects. This is a candid, reflective and unsparing view of the precepts and practice of Indian politics. It traces the evolution and growth of identity politics, coalition governments and single-party rule and the differing political narratives of the north and the south.