British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Politics and Society in Contemporary India: Change and Diversity

Thursday 5 October 5 2006

ABSTRACT

The changing social bases of party politics in India
Yogendra Yadav (CSDS, Delhi) and Oliver Heath (BA Postdoctoral Fellow, Essex)

Indian party politics has been through several different stages since independence - firstly a period of Congress dominance, then a period of greater electoral competition with alternating governments, and finally a period in which regional parties have emerged together with complex patterns of inter-party alliances.  These periods of electoral competition have been associated with changing social bases of party support with the emergence of distinctive social bases for a number of parties such as the BJP and BSP.  This paper draws on the long series of Indian election studies, dating back to 1967, to chart these changing patterns and to explore their implications for Indian politics in the 21st century.

This paper will be presented by Oliver Heath, as Yogendra Yadav is unable to attend the meeting.

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