No abstract

The party political domain of India is replete with a large number of parties representing the tapestry of the Indian society. Many of them are based in specific regions and states, built around social and linguistic identities. While this enhanced the representative character of the parties, it also contributed to varied patterns of political competition and unstable governments. The two major national partiesthe Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party-becoming ready and willing to form coalitions heralded an era of coalition governments both at the centre and states, enabling parties to increase their power and their pay-offs. Parties across the political spectrum have tended to converge on macroeconomic policy, but continue to diverge on social policies and larger issues that confront India, such as nation building and secularism. Chronic lack of internal democracy coupled with the rise of political corruption and clientelist practices are matters of serious concern. A broader view of governance, resisting temptations to concentrate power and pursue personal enrichment would enable parties to deliver policies for a better, more just society.We may deprecate India's political parties, the way they function and the means party leaders adopt to maximize electoral support. We may blame them for the ills we see in Indian society and political practice. Such an attitude is not unjustified. Yet we cannot ignore the role parties have played in bringing about a massive democratic political transformation over the past six decades since independence. This transformation was by no means inevitable; most former colonies went through periods of political instability, military coups and authoritarian regimes, but India has moved towards law-based democratization. The mediating role political parties have played in bringing about this democratic transformation

No abstract

This article is about the changing voter in a changing India in the context of India’s Lok Sabha election held in the year 2019. Positing a two-way relationship between social change and electoral politics, this article analyses the sources for the success of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in mobilizing massive support among various Hindu social groups. It examines the claims of the BJP leaders that the 2019 election has breached the barriers of caste and class. It takes the view that the social change over the decades after independence, especially after the 1990s, led to the emergence of a new elite composed of members from different social groups with shared values and social life willing to join hands for political purposes and that led to the massive victory of the BJP in the absence of any other viable alternative.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract