This article examines Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s hegemony in Gujarat by studying the changes inaugurated by the party in the caste profile of Gujarati political elites. I showcase the transition of BJP from a party of elite castes to a limited accommodation of a few Hindu backward castes, especially under Narendra Modi’s chief ministership. However, I argue that the recruitment of Hindu backward castes as ministers represents a case of superficial democratization as they were appointed in non-influential ministries or were co-opted only near election time. Indeed, Modi’s developmentalist regime solidified the dominance of upper castes and Patels from an urban background and a few Rajputs, and led to a rural backlash in the form of Patel agitation. In the final section, I analyse these still emerging trends in Gujarat’s polity, which became visible on a rural–urban continuum in the 2017 state election.
Ahmedabad (capitale économique de l'État du Gujarat), qui compte actuellement plus de 750 000 musulmans, concentre plus de 50 % de cette population dans la seule localité de Juhapura. Plus de 400 000 habitants vivent entassés dans ce quartier, qui pâtit à la fois d'infrastructures publiques très insuffisantes et d'une forte stigmatisation. Ahmedabad est en effet devenue, en raison de violences interconfessionnelles, la ville la plus ségréguée de l'Inde, sur les onze villes examinées dans Muslims in Indian Cities 1. Selon l'indice de ségrégation développé par Raphael Susewind 2 , Ahmedabad est encore plus ghettoïsée que Mumbai. Paradoxalement, cette ghettoïsation sans précédent a favorisé certaines formes de développement et les habitants de Juhapura reproduisent des types de ségrégation fondés sur la classe et l'affiliation religieuse, deux facteurs de stigmatisation dont les premiers habitants du ghetto ont pourtant été les premières victimes. 1. Pour une histoire générale de la ségrégation spatiale à Ahmedabad et à Juhapura en particulier, voir C. Jaffrelot et C. Thomas, « Facing ghettoisation in riot-city : Old Ahmedabad and Juhapura between victimisation and self-help », dans L.
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