"This book examines the relationship between state, society and democracy in India over the last decade. It does so by exploring the recent careers of three goals that were pre-eminent on the state's agenda at Independence, and continue to inform contemporary debates on Indian politics and society. Each of these goals - welfare, secularism and development - is illuminated through a detailed case study to which the challenges of democracy and citizenship are central." "In exploring some aspects of the discursive terrain of Indian politics, this book provides a narrative which bridges the gap between political theory and empirical political analysis. This well-written and carefully argued book will be useful not only to postgraduate researchers in politics, but also to the ordinary reader interested in debates that confront contemporary India."--BOOK JACKET.