Quota for Patels? The Neo-middle-class Syndrome and the (partial) Return of Caste Politics in Gujarat

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe Jaffrelot
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Caste Group ◽  
Youth Leaders ◽  
Chief Minister ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party ◽  
Reservation Policy ◽  
Caste Politics ◽  
Ruling Party ◽  
Economic Inequalities

The Patels, a dominant caste of Gujarat, rallied around the Congress in the 1920s and remained behind the ruling party until the 1980s, when they shifted to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) because of the pro-Other Backward Classes (OBCs) reservation policy of the Congress Chief Minister Madhavsinh Solanki. As evident from the 2015 local elections, rural Patels are getting back to Congress. They resent the fact that the BJP, the ruling party for almost two decades, refuses to include Patels on the list of the OBCs. This demand, articulated by Hardik Patel, and other youth leaders, reflects the growing socio-economic inequalities within this caste group, not only because of the gap between peasants and urban dwellers but also because of the scarcity of good jobs in the private sectors, one of the outcomes of the ‘Gujarat model’.

Does Economic Growth Pay Political Dividends in India?

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 166-169
Author(s):  
Vasant V. Bang ◽  
Alok Kumar Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Regression Equations ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Growth Data ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Economic Development And Growth ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party ◽  
Ruling Party

Since independence in 1947, India has witnessed several changes in economic policies of governments. Economic reforms were started in India in 1984 and were accelerated later in 1991. It is believed that Bharatiya Janata Party won the 2014 parliamentary elections on the promise of economic development and growth. In this article, an attempt has been made to investigate the link between economic and electoral performances in Indian elections. The data for 1951–2014 period has been analysed by establishing regression equations using vote percentage received by a ruling party as dependent variable and sectoral economic growth during the ruling tenure as independent variables. Comparisons have been made between the pre- and post-1984 eras. An important contribution of this article is that it highlights the fact that electoral performances can be better explained using sectoral growth data as compared to overall GDP growth rates. The article also highlights a significant role played by volatility in growth rates.

Modi’s party will be relaxed about upcoming polls

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Congress Party ◽  
Chief Minister ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party ◽  
National Profile ◽  
Opposition Parties

Significance Each of these states except Punjab has a government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Punjab is one of just three states with a chief minister that belongs to India’s main opposition Congress party. Impacts A poor showing by Congress would further reduce its leverage with other opposition parties in talks over forming a broad anti-Modi alliance. Victory in UP would enhance Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s national profile. Election campaigning will likely lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Weakening the Strong Mayor: Partisan Division and Presidential Intervention in Istanbul

2021 ◽  
pp. 0160323X2110453
Author(s):  
İhsan İkizer
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Central Government ◽  
City Council ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
Central Government Agencies ◽  
Mayoral Leadership ◽  
The City ◽  
Ruling Party

Istanbul, the leading city of Turkey, is a good case for analyzing the conflictual relations of the mayor with the city council and the central government. Istanbul had been governed by the mayors from the ruling party, the Justice and Development Party ( Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; AKP) and its predecessor parties since 1994. In the local elections held in March 2019, which was repeated only for Istanbul after two months with a highly suspicious decision by the Supreme Election Board, the AKP lost this city. Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, has harsh relations with the city council, which is dominated by the AKP and its alliance party, the Nationalist Movement Party ( Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi; MHP). What exacerbates this situation is the partisan intervention of the increasingly authoritarian central government that weakens the mayor's position. The mayor tries to counterbalance the power of the city council and central government agencies through livestreaming the city council meetings and attracting civic engagement on his side. This article is expected to contribute to the literature on mayoral leadership, partisan constraints to mayoral powers as well as the mayor's strategies against the authoritarian intervention of the central governments. Mayor İmamoğlu's strategies and measures adopted for overcoming the efforts of blocking his agenda by both the council and central government might inspire other mayors experiencing similar partisan constraints.

scholarly journals Petitioning and Political Cultures in South Asia: Introduction

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROHIT DE ◽  
ROBERT TRAVERS
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
South Asia ◽  
General Election ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Finance Minister ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Political Cultures ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party ◽  
Historical Condition

On 4 May 2014, as a tumultuous general election in India drew to a close, theIndian Expressnewspaper published a column by Tavleen Singh, with the headline ‘No more petitioners: no more petitioners’. The column went on to quote P. Chidambaran, the outgoing finance minister of the defeated Congress government, who diagnosed a historical shift in the mentality of the Indian electorate. ‘India has moved on,’ Chidambaran was reported as saying, ‘from a petitioner society to an aspirational one. Treating people as petitioners is a mistake . . . even the poor demand a better life and are no longer resigned to their fate.’ In India, the column argued, ‘poor people’ now had ‘middle class aspirations’, desiring ‘jobs and development’ rather than ‘charity’ and that this was a major reason for the success of Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 elections. To be a ‘petitioner’, in this analysis, was to be ground down by poverty and resignation, and dependent on the ‘charity’ of others. It was a passing historical condition, a sign of underdevelopment that could be sloughed off by the sudden awakening across society of ‘middle class aspirations’.

Modi’s main test now will be to manage his alliance

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Uttar Pradesh ◽  
Fiscal Deficit ◽  
Hindu Nationalism ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Congress Party ◽  
Jobless Growth ◽  
Chief Minister ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party

Significance The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has retained a parliamentary majority and the BJP has extended its single-party majority. During campaigning, Modi emphasised nationalist themes, ranging from Hindu nationalism to national security, while deflecting criticism over problems such as the country’s jobless growth. Impacts The BJP’s pledge to spend 100 trillion rupees (1.4 trillion dollars) on infrastructure will likely prompt a widening of the fiscal deficit. Leading BJP figures such as party President Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath may aim to succeed Modi in 2024. Rahul Gandhi will highly likely relinquish leadership of the main opposition Congress party.

Modi’s party will not yet think of separate Gorkhaland

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
West Bengal ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
The State ◽  
National Register ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tea Industry ◽  
Chief Minister ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party

Subject The movement to create a separate Gorkhaland out of West Bengal state. Significance After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government last month abrogated Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status, and divided the state into two union territories, speculation grew that the Modi administration might try to hive off West Bengal state’s Gorkhaland region, currently administered by a semi-autonomous Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aiming to strengthen its position in West Bengal, currently governed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Impacts Agitation in Gorkhaland could set back tourism, a major source of income for the area, and India’s tea industry, a major employer there. The alleged exclusion of 100,000 Gorkhas from Assam state’s National Register of Citizens may hurt the BJP’s image in northern West Bengal. Gorkha politicians who have turned to the BJP may desert the party if higher-level officials continue to prevaricate over Gorkhaland.

The Aftermath of Algeria’s First Free Local Elections

1991 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 466-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belkacem Iratni ◽  
Mohand Salah Tahi
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Social System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
National Liberation ◽  
National Liberation Front ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time ◽  
Colonial Settlement ◽  
Ruling Party

THERE ARE SOME DATES AND EVENTS WHICH REMAIN engraved in the collective memory of a people. In Algeria these are: 1 November 1954, which sparked the eight-year long War of Liberation; 5 July 1962, which witnessed the end of French rule over the country after 130 years of colonial settlement; and 12 June 1990, which signalled the withering away of the monopoly of power exercised by the ruling party - the National Liberation Front (FLN) - following the holding of the first ever free and competitive local elections in the history of independent Algeria. No doubt, on 12 June 1990 the Constitution of 23 February 1989, which fundamentally transformed the political and social system of Algeria, achieved its most spectacular application. These elections aimed at the renewal of seats in the Councils of both APC: Assemblées Populaires Communales (constituencies), and APW: Assemblées Populaires de Wilayat (provinces). For the first time, Algerians were offered the freedom to choose their representatives from among lists of candidates sponsored by several newly-legalized parties alongside the FLN, and for the first time, the FLN tasted defeat.

Anti-Dalit attacks imperil Modi election base in India

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Home State ◽  
Chief Minister ◽  
Caste Discrimination ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party ◽  
Cow Protection

Subject Anti-Dalit violence -- and its impact on politics and Modi's prospects. Significance Cow protection vigilante groups connected with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have carried out a slew of violent attacks against Dalits (low castes) in recent months, the latest in Modi's home-state of Gujarat in July. Clumsy handling of the attacks has provoked a backlash on the streets and in parliament, forcing Modi into a public condemnation of these vigilantes and the ouster of Gujarat's BJP Chief Minister Anandi Patel. Impacts Reducing caste discrimination is key to promoting truly inclusive development in India. Losing the Dalit vote-base would harm the BJP's prospects in the 2019 national elections. Anti-Dalit atrocities, now widely publicised through social media, damage India's reputation among investors.

Caste unrest will help Modi's party retain Dalit vote

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The North ◽  
Congress Party ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Caste Politics

Subject Caste politics in India. Significance In a sign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ability to shape the political agenda, the National Democratic Alliance's candidate Ram Nath Kovind was sworn in as India's 14th president on July 25. With attacks on Dalits (low castes) in the north Indian heartlands of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) surging, the nomination of a Dalit for the presidency was designed to strengthen the party's appeal to the community ahead of state elections. Impacts Support for the main opposition Congress party among Dalits will decline in Gujarat. Beef and leather exports will fall despite the Supreme Court suspending the ban on trading cattle for slaughter. Anti-Muslim violence may increase across the country.

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