SOCIAL SCIENTIST These questions need greater attention than they receive from Noorani. Attributing the rise of the RSS merely to 'repeated compromises by democrats with a viciously fascist force...' (p. 41) as the author does, is not enough. This is an important, but not a sufficient explanation for the success of Sangh parivar politics. Even if one goes by this argument it needs further extension for some viable answers to appear. Why do 'democrats' need to comprise with fascist forces, in what context do they make such compromises; what are the objective conditions or forces, which compel them to do so? Here it needs to be pointed out that the repeated failure of the Indian state, self professedly liberal, democratic and secular, to address the worsening problems of livelihood and social justice makes such compromises necessary. In the context of their inability to adequately address the economic wellbeing of the people, the ruling classes feel the need to compromise with communal forces and issues to maintain their hold over the masses. In other words, the ruling elite compensates for its failures on various fronts by fore-grounding issues that do not question the basic structures of economic distribution or political power. This acts as encouragement to chauvinist forces to build on communal themes and exploit them to their own advantage. An inquiry into the nature of popular demands and aspirations, and the response of the state to them becomes useful to seek some answers to the growth of fascist forces in India. Attention to these questions would have done much to upgrade the book's central argument. The work relies mainly on coverage in English language dailies, such as The Statesman, The Times of India, Indian Express and others, of events related to or sponsored by the activists of the RSS and the BJP as also their leadership's public utterances and statements on various occasions. The author has not been alert to a wide variety of sources that exist for backing a study on Sangh parivar politics. Public statements in the media have a nature different from statements and writings meant for an audience already converted. The former to a large extent is meant to gauge the public mood as well as expansion of mass support. The latter, however, is to consolidate the parivar's hold over an already existing support base. A neglect of the varied publications of the RSS, BJP and VHP leads to an inability to perceive how this brotherhood conducts itself internally. A study of these publications could have given clues to understanding the manner in which this division of labour actually works, the inevitable tensions that it gives rise to between its various fronts and the manner of dealing with them.