-TheWire.in BJP has now realised that Hindutva and identity politics by themselves are not enough to win. In post-Mandal India, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attempt to build electoral alliances tying upper castes and non-dominant OBCs is not new. This is a strategy the party used in the mid-1990s across North India to resist the consolidation of pro-Mandal parties and prevent the formation of large coalitions of “backwards”. Mid-1990s onwards, the BJP distributed...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Total Matching Records found : 3343
Uttar Pradesh polls: A loophole in democracy -Shaikh Mujibur Rehman
-The Hindu Only if the Samajwadi Party-led coalition wins by a large margin can it be assured of government formation It is clear that the fierce electoral battle for Uttar Pradesh is mainly between the Akhilesh Yadav-led gathbandhan (coalition) and the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), even if it appears multi-cornered on paper. The failure of unity among supposedly secular parties against the BJP once again demonstrates not just their half-hearted...
More »‘Suraksha’ plank finds particular resonance in Uttar Pradesh -JP Yadav
-The Telegraph For the better-off upper castes, it has acquired the context of the safety of their sisters and daughters Bareilly, Rampur: Sitting outside a small medicine-cum-stationery shop at Khirka village in Bareilly district, Rakesh Gangwar, Ramdas Kashyap and Puranlal Gangwar unhesitatingly declare their support for the “phool” (lotus). Each lists the reasons almost in the same order, as though they had prepared beforehand for the question. The top reason for all three —...
More »UP polls: Understanding shifts in caste, religious identities -Bhanu Joshi and Neelanjan Sircar
-Hindustan Times Hindu-Muslim polarisation is not as outwardly visible despite being an everyday reality. Many Jats, who once openly voted on the basis of a “Hindu identity”, are fighting the election side-by-side with Muslims due to the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance Pichli baar leher thi. Hum bhi leher mein doob gaye. (There was a wave last time. We also drowned in it.) In September 2013, the Muzaffarnagar riots killed 60...
More »Yogi govt's ration incentive to arrest dent in UP vote bank -Nalin Verma
-The Telegraph The dole of ghee, salt, gram and cash is likely to work with some segments of voters Bareilly: One-kilo packets of ghee, salt and black gram along with the 5kg rice or wheat provided free against ration cards. Mixed with a generous portion of the Karnataka hijab controversy. That’s the cocktail the BJP is serving in Uttar Pradesh to arrest the dent in its vote bank. “The Yogi Adityanath government has added...
More »
