Q. Analyse the significance of caste in determining the electoral outcome in Indian election. To what extent did caste play role in 2020 Bihar election? [66th BPSC: Expected question]

Q. Analyse the significance of caste in determining the electoral outcome in Indian election. To what extent did caste play role in 2020 Bihar election?
Ans:
Caste affect electoral politics in India at all levels and elections in turn have redefined the meaning of caste. The ability of caste leaders to acquire power by the means of cultivating caste vote banks has converted caste identities into effective political weapons. Some even say that in India, “people do not cast their vote, they vote their caste”.

The significance of caste in determining the electoral outcome:

• Caste factor in political socialization and leadership recruitment:
  • Different caste groups have
  • In the process of picking up his political orientations, attitudes, and beliefs, he naturally comes under the influence of caste groups and casteism. Caste values and caste interests influence their socialization and consequently their political thinking, conscience, and participation.
  • He bets on caste solidarity to occupy and play a leadership recruiting role. their loyalties behind political parties and their ideologies.
• Caste based political parties:
  • In India, there are so many caste-based political parties which try to promote and protect the interest of a particular caste
  • DMK and AIADMK are nonBrahmin political parties from Tamil Nadu.
  • BSP banks upon the support of Scheduled Castes.
  • RJD banks upon the support of Yadav.
• Party alliance based on caste consideration:
  • e.g. most of the recent political alliances in U.P and Bihar were formed keeping in mind the local demography of the different castes.
  • Sometimes it is said that in most cases the alliances between political parties are in fact social alliance of different castes to ensure the majority seats.
• Caste based pressure groups:
  • They try to promote and protect the interest of particular caste and for this purpose they keep putting pressure on governments the pressure groups like scheduled caste federation, Arya Samaj Sabha, Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Bhumihar sabha etc, are such pressure groups.
• Caste and nomination of candidates:
  • When parties choose candidates in elections, they keep in mind the caste composition of the electorate and nominate candidates from different castes so as to muster necessary support to win elections.
• Caste and voting behaviour:
  • Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to caste sentiment to muster support. Some political parties are known to favour some castes and are seen as their representatives.
  • Universal adult franchise and the principle of one-person-one-vote compelled political leaders to gear up to the task of mobilising and securing political support. It also brought new consciousness among the people of castes that were hitherto treated as inferior and low.
  • Caste groups are tapped for committed support N.D. Palmer has rightly observed that Caste considerations are given great weight in the selection of candidates and in the appeals to voters during election campaigns. In elections, caste is the most important political party.
  • Politics in India highly depends on patron-client ties along the caste lines. The caste that one belongs to serves as a strong determinant of his or her voting pattern.
  • Caste-based slogan like “jat ki beti jat ko, jat ki vote jat ko”.
• Caste as divisive and cohesive force in Indian Politics:
  • It provides a basis for the emergence of several interest groups in the Indian Political System each of which competes with all other groups in the struggle for power. At times it leads to an unhealthy struggle for power and acts as a divisive force however, it is a source of unity among the members of groups and acts as a cohesive force.
• Post-Mandal politics has ushered a new era in Indian politics. Identity politics, which was earlier seen only in villages, is now visible in towns and metros too.
• Caste and formation of a council of ministers:
  • While constituting the council of ministers prime minister and chief minister have to give representation to the members belonging to different castes in their state and in case they do not do so, the supporters of particular caste put pressure on the prime minister and chief minister to give representation to their caste.
• The caste factor affects government policies and decisions. The ruling party tries to use its decision-making power to win the favour of major caste groups. e.g. Reservation policy is another aspect where we can see that caste system also influence Indian politics.

Further, there is not only a one-way relation between caste and politics. Politics too influences the caste system and caste identities by bringing them into the political arena. Thus, it is not politics that gets caste-ridden, it is the caste that gets politicised.
However, the focus on caste in politics can sometimes give an impression that elections are all about caste and nothing else. That is far from true:

• No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. So, every candidate and party needs to win the confidence of more than one caste and community to win elections.
• No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community. When people say that a caste is a ‘vote bank’ of one party, it usually means that a large proportion of the voters from that caste vote for that party.
• Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste (if that caste is believed to dominate the electorate in a particular constituency). Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste while many voters have no candidate from their caste.
• The ruling party and the sitting MP or MLA frequently lose elections in our country. That could not have happened if all castes and communities were frozen in their political preferences.
• The voters have strong attachment to political parties which is often stronger than their attachment to their caste or community.
• People within the same caste or community have different interests depending on their economic condition. Rich and poor or men and women from the same caste often vote very differently.
• People’s assessment of the performance of the government and the popularity rating of the leaders matter and are often decisive in elections.
• Many claimed that in many of recent elections like 2014 Lok Sabha election, 2017 UP election, 2019, Lok Sabha election etc results showed that voters were now driven by an agenda of broad-based development, national issues, corruption, clean image of party leader etc. rather than caste and religion.
• The image of political leader, money power, muscle power, political view of leader etc. are also the major factor which affect the election outcome.

To what extent did caste play role in 2020 Bihar election:

• Caste has been very demonstrative factor during elections of Bihar. Traditionally, especially since 1990s, political parties & candidates take caste mobilization as one of the factor for winning elections.
• In 2020 assembly election, though most parties attempted to reach out beyond their core social base, there were some predictable patterns.
  • About half the candidates fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) belonged to the forward castes.
  • According to the Lokniti-CSDS post-poll, most upper-caste voters supported the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
  • Half the tickets in the RJD went to Yadavs and Muslims who overwhelmingly voted for it.
  • The Kurmis and Extreme Backward Classes (EBCs) supported the Janata Dal (United).

• To the MGB’s credit, the unemployment was at the heart of its campaign.
  • Due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, thousands of migrant laborers were forced to return to their home states due to lack of work. The issue of unemployment was main issue especially for them.
  • While more than one-third of voters (36%) identified development as the most important poll issue, one-fifth (20%) focused on lack of jobs.
  • Thus, caste factor not the only dominant factor in the recent election. Unlike the previous elections, most party leaders led a more inclusive campaign refraining from targeting any caste group to mobilise another caste group.
• Caste role was visible in the political alliances:
  • NDA comprising the Janata Dal (United), the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindustani Awam Morcha, the Vikassheel Insaan Party.
    • Earlier, the Lok Janshakti Party, which was part of NDA, quit the alliance stating that they would contest all seats against the Janata Dal (United) but not against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
  • Mahagathbandhan was the main opposition political coalition comprising primarily the United Progressive Alliance members Rashtriya Janata Dal and Indian National Congress along with left–wing parties such as CPI and CPI (M).
  • Grand Democratic Secular Front included Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Samajwadi Janata Dal Democratic etc.
  • Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) consists of Pappu Yadav’s Jan Adhikar Party, Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party, Social Democratic Party of India and Bahujan Mukti Party.
  • In all these political alliances, the social alliance of different castes can be observed easily.
• Two competing consolidations had caste as dominant factor:
  • The elections seem to have witnessed two competing consolidations —
    • Yadavs and Muslims on the side of the MGB, and
    • upper castes, Kurmi-Koeris and EBCs on the side of the NDA,
    • with Dalits being the swing vote.
  • Muslims and Yadavs, RJD’s traditional voters, consolidated in a major way behind the MGB. However, to be able to make a bid for power, the MGB needed an MY+. The alliance with the Communist parties was a crucial factor.
    • According to a survey, Dalits vote came to the MGB in early phases but in the
  • Within the Dalit community, support for the MGB was restricted to the Ravidas community and the Dusadhs. Musahars, however, mostly voted for the NDA.
  • The NDA also got four-fifths of votes from Kurmis, the community to which Nitish belongs, and nearly three-fifths of the EBC vote.
• Caste and Community equation: Led to NDA victory
  • If the rival Mahagathbandhan comprising Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD and the Congress banked upon Muslim and Yadav (MY) voters, the NDA mainly consolidated the Kurmis (Nitish Kumar’s caste), Extremely Backward Castes (EBC) and upper castes (BJP’s vote bank) in general and polarised the Hindu votes in particular.
• Social engineering on the caste line is also seen in the newly formed ministry:
  • e.g. In the swearing in ceremony, of its seven ministers so far, three ministers were upper caste, two were OBC, one a Dalit and the other an EBC.
  • Same form of balancing act based on caste line was seen in the recent cabinet expansion.

Thus, caste and caste-based representation matter in not just understanding the outcome of elections, but also matter for policy. Who is in power in the state has a bearing on what the state does. Caste plays different kinds of roles in politics. In some situations, expression of caste differences in politics gives many disadvantaged communities the space to demand their share of power. In this sense-caste politics has helped people from Dalits and OBC castes to gain better access to decision making. Several political and non-political organisations have been demanding and agitating for an end to discrimination against particular castes, for more dignity and more access to land, resources and opportunities.
At the same time exclusive attention to caste can produce negative results as well. As in the case of religion, politics based on caste identity alone is not very healthy in a democracy. It can divert attention from other pressing issues like poverty, development and corruption. In some cases caste division leads to tensions, conflict and even violence.

Supreme Court’s ruling on Sec 123(3) of Representatives of Peoples Act 1951 where it prohibits any candidate, his agent, or any person consented by such candidate or his agent, from soliciting votes, or discouraging voters against voting for a rival candidate, on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language, by declaring such conduct as a ‘corrupt practice’ should be implemented in letter and spirit.
Going forward, Socio-Economic Development and spread of Education is necessary to remove such polarizations.