Contents: Foreword by Pranab Mukherjee Preface Acknowledgements Old Politics, New Media: Campaigning in India Courtship of Regional Political Parties and the Major Electoral Upsets From Ideologies to Idols with Feet of Clay The Big Multinational Election Campaigns and Democracy The Bustling World of Political Marketing in India Visual Political Communication Model The Charge of the Light Brigades Bibliography Taking the reader on a roller coaster ride, The Game of Votes showcases the full spectrum of the key actors and stars of the electoral arena, the rise and fall of political parties, the role of the digital and technology platforms, and the emergence of fake news impacting election outcome in India and across the world. The book is a veritable primer on Indian politics, as it runs through the entire history of Indian polity and provides insights into how political parties gradually shifted from campaigning on their own to hiring top-notch advertising agencies. It tells the story of how Modi won the election in 2014 and repeated an exceptional performance in 2019. It also gives a bird’s eye view of how Barack Obama and Donald Trump ran their election campaigns and how to understand critical developments in political communication. The book provides glimpses of international politics in the US and Europe and covers important developments in Egypt and South East Asia, drawing comparisons between the Western world with the fast-changing developments in India. This book brings the readers face-to-face with the changing dynamics of election campaign and democracy. This is the inside story behind the game of votes in India.