Political strategist Lance Price reveals the amazing story behind Narendra Modi's 2014 Indian election vistory

How did a 'chai wallah' who sold tea on trains as a boy become Prime Minister of India?

On May 16, 2014, Narendra Modi was declared the winner of the largest election ever conducted anywhere in the world, having fought a campaign unlike any before.

Political parties in Britain, Australia and North America pride themselves on the sophistication of their election strategies, but Modi's campaign was a master-class in modern electioneering. His team created an election machine that broke new ground in the use of social media, the Internet, mobile phones and digital technologies. Modi took part in thousands of public events, but in such a vast country it was impossible to visit every town and village. The solution? A 'virtual Modi' - a life-size 3D hologram - beamed to parts he could not reach in person. These pioneering techniques brought millions of young people to the ballot box - the holy grail of election strategists everywhere - as Modi trounced the governing Congress Party led by the Gandhi dynasty.

Former BBC correspondent and Downing Street communications expert Lance Price has been granted exclusive access to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team of advisers. With complete freedom to tell it as he finds it, he details Modi's rise to power, the extraordinary election victory and its aftermath. The Modi Effect: Inside Narendra Modi's campaign to transform India lifts the lid on a whole new box of tricks, where message-management and IT wizardry combined to create a vote-winning colossus of awesome potency.

"Lance Price has written the definitive account of the campaign that got Modi to where he is now. He tells a good story. Extensive interviews with key aides, interesting comparisons with powerful politicians he has worked with, and detailed chats with Modi himself have given Price's book an exciting immediacy. Price gives us a ringside view of Modi's way of working." - The Times of India

"This book will help people around the world to understand more about Indian democracy and our campaign." - Narendra Modi

"Price brings to the debate is the spin-doctor's perspective . . . He dissects Modi's strategic and tactical decisions, the social media interventions starting as far back as 2010, the advertising campaigns, the media coverage and the role of the three crucial 'ecosystems' that won Modi the election." - Financial Times

"The Modi Effect is a highly readable book written in a racy and lucid style." - Financial Express

About the Author
Lance Price is a Political Strategy Consultant who worked at 10 Downing Street from 1998 to 2000 where he was a deputy to Alistair Campbell. He was the Labour Party's Director of Communications from 2000 until the General Election of 2001, when Tony Blair secured his second landslide. Before joining Number Ten he was a BBC Political Correspondent for many years.