-IdeasForIndia.in The Mandal Commission and Sachar Committee reports, among others, have indicated the existence of caste inequalities within the four major caste groups. However, data on this subject remain limited. Using data from a novel 2014-2015 survey conducted in Uttar Pradesh, this article shows that within-group inequalities among upper castes are significantly less, relative to the within-group inequalities observed among both Hindu and Muslim OBCs and Dalits. Broadly, four social groups –...

-The Telegraph Mandal Politics must be revamped, not renounced Is Mandal Politics on its deathbed? This is the question that many analysts have asked after the Bharatiya Janata Party routed the Samajwadi Party in the recent Uttar Pradesh elections. It was the fourth consecutive electoral drubbing for the SP at the hands of the BJP in the Narendra Modi era. Mandal Politics cannot defeat the BJP, and the SP needs to finally move...

-Moneycontrol.com The BSP has recorded a humiliating performance in UP once considered its bastion. Unless Mayawati initiates immediate reforms, the party will fade into oblivion  The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has received a drubbing in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. It has recorded its worst performance since inception, largely due to a bipolar contest which saw its non-core as well as some core voters shift to the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the...

-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...

-The Hindu Economic hardship, chronic unemployment and farm distress appear to be at the centre of public discussion The Uttar Pradesh elections of 2022 are the most important Assembly elections in living memory. The poll outcome in India’s weightiest State will be a crucial metric of public sentiment ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Uttar Pradesh invites attention not merely because of its size but right now because of its centrality...