Overview

On an average, India has two to five elections in any given year. With 15 million polling staff, 5.5 million electronic voting machines, officers trekking across glaciers, forests, deserts, riding elephants and camels, travelling by boats and helicopters to ensure the last standing Indian citizen gets to cast their vote, the Indian general election is a beast unto itself. In the summer of 2024, 969 million Indians cast their votes and the incumbent Narendra Modi was elected prime minister for a third consecutive term. When Poonam Agarwal first began reporting on the electoral bonds scheme, she had not foreseen that her investigative work would imminently make history in one of the most landmark Supreme Court judgements. In her trailblazing pursuit, she chased the big questions that the media, courts and citizens had no easy answers to. Just how big is the Indian electoral machinery? Are money and muscle power in bed together? Was the electoral bonds scheme ‘one of the biggest legalised robberies’? What tools do political parties assemble for campaigning and propaganda? And what will the imminent exercise of redrawing of electoral boundaries, muscular calls for ‘one nation one election’, and the women’s reservation bills mean for the fabric of the Indian polity? With insights into the forbidden world of election war rooms, on how electoral strategies are formulated and rules bent, what works with voters on the ground and what simply doesn’t, Poonam Agarwal’s India Inked is nothing short of a revelation into the inner workings of politics in the world’s largest democracy.

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Reviews

Sunlight is the best disinfectant ... at a time when our electoral democracy is slipping into areas of darkness, especially over money power, EVMs, and indeed the Election Commission itself, Poonam Agarwal has made a genuine effort to investigate and unravel the truth. A must-read for those who want democracy to be strengthened and our electoral process be made more transparent. * Rajdeep Sardesai, Consulting editor & News anchor, India Today; author, '2024: The Election that Surprised India.' * Poonam Agarwal changed everyone’s understanding of the Election Commission’s rules during the Lok Sabha elections. Her continuous reporting helped people understand many provisions of the Election Commission, whether it was electoral bonds or Form 17C. Through Poonam’s reporting, political workers also received training on how to engage with the Election Commission. In away, Poonam’s videos and reports became training manuals for the general public. She has a significant grasp of these issues. Today, as the debate about the role of the Election Commission has reignited, Poonam Agarwal’s book has emerged as a major contribution to this discussion. * Ravish Kumar, Independent journalist and author, 'The Free Voice.' * Poonam’s pathbreaking work on electoral bonds and the Indian electoral system is one that will be remembered for decades to come when we look back at this critical and horrifying time in Indian democracy’s history. * Atishi, Former Chief Minister, Delhi * Free and fair elections are an essential feature of our Constitution. What do free and fair elections mean? Poonam takes us through our electoral process and enables the reader to better understand the range of issues. A must read for every voter. * Justice Madan B. Lokur, Former Judge, the Supreme Court of India * A deep dive into how and why India’s electoral system, despite its historical strengths, is not quite the free and fair model of electoral democracy it is touted to be — by the reporter who first brought to light the hidden unique alphanumeric code in the scandal of the Electoral Bonds scheme. * N. Ram, Director and Editor–in–Chief, The Hindu * History of elections, the Election Commission and the Election Commissioners interestingly captured by Poonam through painstaking research. A great addition to the scarce literature on a subject that touches the entire nation. * S.Y. Quraishi, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India; author, 'The Great March of Democracy.' * An engaging story of how the most audacious attempts at legalised robbery of the democratic process through Electoral Bonds was foiled. * Yogendra Yadav, Political Activist, Swaraj India and Bharat Jodo Abhiyaan; author, 'Making Sense of Indian Democracy.' * The book is an insightful and much–needed exploration of India’s electoral process from an investigative journalist’s perspective with remarkable depth and clarity especially with regard to electoral bonds and the mismatch in votes polled and counted. * Sucheta Dalal Padma Shri; Journalist; Managing Editor – Moneylife; author, 'The Scam: From Harshad Mehta to Ketan Parekh.' * Poonam’s work on the electoral process and its dangers reveals her complete grasp over a very controversial subject. * Jawahar Sircar, former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha * Poonam’s investigative work helped expose the lack of transparency in the NDA government’s electoral bonds scheme. This is a necessary read for those who care for the health of India’s elections, democracy and development. * Sam Pitroda, Former Adviser to PM Manmohan Singh; author, 'The Idea of Democracy.' * Poonam Agarwal has written a very comprehensive compendium on the most important democratic exercise in India. It is a significant contribution to the literature on electoral issues in the country. * Jagdeep S. Chhokar former professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; founder, Association for Democratic Reforms * Poonam Agarwal offers an excellent account of the supposedly politics-agnostic electoral bonds for anyone wanting to understand how a part of India's election system works - and how it is undermined. * Aditi Phadnis, Business Standard * Agarwal’s story had debunked the Centre’s claim about the electoral bonds’ anonymity before the Supreme Court quashed the scheme. * NewsLaundry * The name’s Bond, shame’s Bond. The case of the electoral bonds with their alphanumeric code, a canny government and an uncaring public. * The Telegraph * India Inked offers a candid, often unsettling account. It is as much a political book as it is a journalistic record, one that seeks to start a conversation rather than end it. * Exchange4media * Journalist who exposed electoral bonds pens dark realities of Indian elections. * The Quint * Poonam Agarwal's latest book India Inked offers a piercing look into the mechanics and myths of Indian elections. * Jist News *

Author Information

Poonam Agarwal is an Emmy-nominated journalist who has been covering Indian society and politics for two decades. She is a recipient of the Ramnath Goenka Award; BBC News Award for outstanding original investigative journalism; Best Investigative Journalist at The News Television Awards; the CNN Young Journalist Award, among others. Her investigative documentary on loan app scam with the BBC World Service titled ‘The Trap: India’s Deadliest Scam’ has received wide and critical acclaim. She has also written for the Global Investigative Journalist Network and delivered the prestigious Gavin MacFayden Memorial lecture at the Centre for Investigative Journalism in London in 2024. Poonam started her career as a TV journalist in 2005 with NDTV. Subsequently, she worked with Times Now and was later the National Editor of Investigations at The Quint. Her award-winning work on elections and electoral bonds made history in helping the Indian Supreme Court deliver a judgement that struck down the Electoral Bonds Scheme. She tweets on X as @poonamjourno

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