Saba
Naqvi

I am a journalist, author, and political commentator based in New Delhi. I have reported on India for more than three decades. In my career, I chronicled the rise of the BJP, now India's pre-eminent political party. This would culminate in two books — Shades of Saffron: From Vajpayee to Modi (2017) and a new edition, The Saffron Storm: From Vajpayee to Modi (2024). Both have portraits of the central figures in the party's ascent to power and describe the transformative era as it unfolded. The Hindi edition is published by Vani Prakashan.

I have also explored identity and culture in my country. My celebrated book In Good Faith (2012) grew out of a two-year journey across India in search of syncretic traditions, composite cultures and pluralist communities that challenge purist definitions of Hindu and Muslim; its Marathi edition received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2022.

I was the political editor of Outlook magazine under the legendary editor Vinod Mehta and covered all shades of Indian politics. I have written columns in leading newspapers (Indian Express, Times of India, Economic Times, Deccan Herald) and am an election analyst on television and online shows. I currently write a column in the magazine Frontline (The Hindu Group).

My other books include Capital Conquest (2015), which chronicles the emergence of the citizens' party Aam Aadmi Party, and The Politics of Jugaad: The Coalition Handbook, which was published in 2019 and is about coalition politics in India. I am also a visiting professor at a leading private university and have designed courses on Journalism, Indian Politics, Reporting Skills and Rise of the Right (in India and the world).

I have also reported from the ground in Pakistan, Kashmir, and Iran. Journalism has given me a ringside view of the world.