Vinay Sitapati is associate professor of political science and legal studies at Ashoka University. He has degrees from National Law School Bangalore and Harvard University, and a PhD in politics from Princeton University. He has written for publications as diverse as the Economic & Political Weekly, International New York Times, The Indian Express, Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal, The Hindu, Harvard Crimson, Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, and Seminar.

His first book was a best-selling biography of Indian prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao: ‘Half-Lion’. It was published in India by Penguin Books and in the United States by Oxford University Press-USA. The book was also translated into Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. The Economist magazine termed it a ‘Book of the Year’; it is part of Amazon.com’s ‘100 books to read in a lifetime’.

His second book, on the BJP Before Modi, was published in late 2020 by Penguin Books in India, and by Hurst in the United States and the United Kingdom in late 2020. It has been translated into Hindi and Telugu.