SPOTLIGHT In the novel “The Candidate,” skilled political journalist Anirudh Bhattacharyya introduces us to a new brand of irreverent, sophisticated, and engaging political satire. The brisk and funny novel could only have been written by someone with firsthand knowledge of politics in India, including its often absurd side.
“Some parts of the novel are the result of my own observations and notes while covering elections in India. There are manifold means of manipulating the system that are not always visible to everyone,” says Toronto-based Bhattacharyya, who has covered politics and elections for the print and television media in India and the United States.
Bhattacharya’s work has appeared in the Hindustan Times, The Pioneer, Outlook, INNLIVE and news channels CNN-IBN, CNBC-TV18 and NewsX.
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Bhattacharya’s first novel ventures into the chaos of India’s campaign season in full swing. Without a job, and a marriage on the rocks, the author’s mild-mannered protagonist Jay Banerjee has no choice but to come back from New York to Delhi. A chance meeting with a childhood friend, Govardhan Ray, aka Raja plunges Jay into the seamy world of Indian politics.
At the heart of the novel is the fight for the Marxist leaning Narayanpore seat, a nondescript district in West Bengal. It’s a four-legged race with Jay pitted against a television goddess, a scandal tainted cricketing idol, and an economist who is a Nobel Prize aspirant.
Jay is a rarity in politics: a strangely decent man, committed to a clean campaign. This puts him at odds with his own unscrupulous campaign managers, political handler Raja and a rogue’s gallery of assemblymen.
The humor in the book is spot on and often, very often, there was a line that made me laugh aloud or think twice, sometimes at the same time. Until Jay Banerjee walks out of fiction and into public office, where he would surely dispel a little darkness in a corner of Bengal, the only place to find him is in “The Candidate.”
Bhattacharya talked to INNLIVE about his novel which is a candid portrayal of the election process and takes the reader on the campaign trail. He weaves a funny yet thought provoking tale that gives us all hope for the future of democracy. Here are excerpts from the interview:
Would you describe "The Candidate" as a ringside view of how the Indian political game and elections are played?
Certainly. Some parts of the novel are the result of my own observations and notes while covering elections in India. There are manifold means of manipulating the system that are not always visible to everyone. You know, my book is meant to be a satirical take on the electoral process. But as this Lok Sabha election, the real one, gets under way, I find that our netas and parties are getting into a level of absurdity that makes life difficult for humorists. It’s almost like they’ve decided to be so bizarre as to make themselves spoof proof. My challenge was to overcome that hurdle!
Your novel deftly explores the Machiavellian machinations of India's political culture through corrupt ministers like Raja, his unscrupulous A-team and venal netas. Is your protagonist Jay Banerjee a foil to Raja and his wily set?
Raja, of course, is a slimeball in extremis. He’s the sort of politician who will do anything to remain in power. So, yes, Jay plays the straight man to Raja’s crookedness, partly because he’s a decent man, but perhaps also because he’s a political novice, yet to learn any political tricks. We all know politics and the pursuit of power can change and corrupt perfectly normal people. What you get is an unceasing tug-of-war between the two as Raja and his minions seek to leverage every legal means, and several that have attendant jail terms, to wrangle elections. Jay, meanwhile, is trying to navigate these choppy waters, in a sense, without an oar.
Have you intended the book to be an indictment of the media? Other than the paid media issue, the prominent female reporter Madabhi is also border line flirtatious in her dealings with Jay.
Look, as we do know, not all sections of the media are always scrupulous. Many have their own agendas and ambitions, though there are many others who are objective and honest. And reporters are human after all, and the pressure to be first with a story can lead some to use any means to cultivate and keep their source happy. But Madhabi’s equation with Jay is not meant only to portray how a reporter works. I also use her to sketch Jay’s character – his vanity, his willingness to cooperate in the potential relationship. There are shades of grey within him. Perhaps not 50, but plenty.
Why did you choose politics as the theme for your brisk and humorous first novel?
I’ve been a political journalist for years. Especially in India, I love the colour and chaos that surround elections. It’s extremely entertaining. In fact, a challenge I faced was to make this fiction more entertaining than the reality, which, I have to tell you, was a daunting task. Also, despite the insanity that prevails in the political system, there isn’t enough writing along these lines. So I thought satire will be an interesting path to approach a political book. Of course, fictionalising stuff does also keep me from getting sued or stoned.
The humor is spot on and chronicles the bloopers and faux pas committed by some of our Indian netas. Do you expect former foreign minister SM Krishna to be left red-faced?
Ha! As the mandatory disclaimer goes: “...any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events and locales is entirely coincidental.” But readers may find this alternative world somewhat mirrors the real one. And many of the characters, and I use that term in its multiple meanings, are like the Chimera, those mythical creatures comprising of parts from real animals. I wanted to leave readers with a little guessing game, trying to figure out who my characters might remind them of.
Your book has two things that keep readers hooked: characters that you care about and a story that makes you want to find out who will win the election. What inspired you to weave in surprisingly likable characters like political newbie Jay, stand-up assemblyman Krishna Bhuiyya, Balram Singh Yadav and even Mallika Devi who champions women’s rights despite it hurting her political fortunes?
Many Indian politicians have an unremittingly negative image, and perhaps deservedly so. But in the course of covering politics and elections, you do come across some who make you feel grateful for Indian democracy and fill you with hope for its future. I wanted to highlight these characters, along with charlatans like Raja Ray. Each of these characters has a positive side for a different reason – Jay because he’s new to politics, Bhuiyya because he’s an idealist veteran, which may sound like an oxymoron, and Yadav because he has no personal agenda. Mallika Devi, of course, evolves from being somewhat of a liberal poseur to getting her act together when it matters.
Despite the biting political satire and issues you raise in the book from the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to police apathy to a young girl being raped by a group of political musclemen, is “The Candidate” essentially a novel of hope?
That was the intention. There were two options before me. Either to play the stereotypical cynical hack, or create something that leaves you with a sense of optimism. Indian politics can be a truly dreadful and dangerous game, with the very real possibility of violence and death, but also full of surprises with genuinely deserving candidates managing to break through. It’s not all joy and light, there are always dark clouds hovering overhead, but, hopefully, there’s a sense that they may ultimately drift away.
Are you suggesting that the cure for India’s political malaise is new blood and perhaps a different class of politicians in the shape of professionals and even irreverent NRIs with nothing to lose?
I first contemplated writing this book in 2011 when I was in New Delhi, and, out of journalistic curiosity, went and watched a couple of India Against Corruption rallies. I could sense then that we may be at an inflection point which could lead us away from politics as usual to an unusual churning. In this case, it’s the adventures of an inadvertent candidate. The fact that Jay’s an NRI is an additional facet to his character, which helps me to tell his story from somewhat of an outsider’s perspective.
Why did you choose Narayanpore in Bengal as the backdrop?
Narayanpore exists on various maps of India, but this particular constituency is entirely fictional. I wanted to create a place that would serve as a character, with its own quirks and characteristics. And as a device, such a backdrop works wonderfully, since you don’t get a critic pointing out that you’ve messed up on the topography.
Are you working on a second novel?
That could happen, depending partly on the response to this novel. Those who read this book may be able to figure out what I have in mind for Jay next.
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