Centrism, Political Leadership, and the Future of Indian Politics
Echeverri-Gent and Sadiq investigate the implications of the Rudolphs’ scholarship for the challenges of contemporary Indian politics. They contend that two of the Rudolphs’ most seminal, but contradictory, contributions help explain India’s transformational change under Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance government. The authors apply the Rudolphs’ contentions that India’s social pluralism produces centrist politics and their innovative study of transformational political leadership to the 2014 and 2019 general elections and the NDA government. They show how the multilayered nature of Modi’s political leadership enables the prime minister to accommodate the forces of centrism while transforming India’s political mainstream. They show how the ascendance of Modi has simultaneously positioned the BJP at the centre of India’s political system while transforming Indian democracy in majoritarian and illiberal directions.