Constitutional Law (Books and Journals)

• Studies in Indian Politics

This article seeks to examine the role of the leadership factor in the 2024 elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made leadership the centre-piece of its campaign and appeal for votes. While the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) coalition consciously avoided a confrontation with the BJP around the leadership issue, this factor continued to assume salience during the...

• Studies in Indian Politics

While extant research has identified several determinants of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s unprecedented victory in the 2019 general election, they have overlooked the party’s populist radical right (PRR) nature, particularly under the leadership of Narendra Modi. Based on the demand side of PRR voting, this article examines the effect of Indian voters’ populist attitudes on their voting...

• Studies in Indian Politics

Eswaran Sridharan, Elections, Parties, and Coalitions in India: Theory and Recent History. Permanent Black. 359 pages. ₹1095.

• Studies in Indian Politics

Mrinal Pande. The Journey of Hindi Language Journalism in India: From Raj to Swaraj and Beyond. Orient BlackSwan, 2022; 176 pp., ₹1195.

• Studies in Indian Politics

Populist appeals resonate in contemporary India because of political inequalities. These inequalities persist because political parties are stuck in a reciprocity trap that favours local elites, who provide the party with financial support and resources. This reciprocity trap not only perpetuates political inequalities but also leads to the systematic marginalization of the poor by political...

• Studies in Indian Politics

Christopher Clary, The Difficult Politics of Peace: Rivalry in Modern South Asia. Oxford University Press, 2022, 315 pp., ₹895.

• Studies in Indian Politics

• Studies in Indian Politics

In the 2019 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) enjoyed a significant appeal among the youth. However, in 2024, the stakes completely changed and the party ended up losing significant seats. This article explores political participation of youth in 2024 Lok Sabha elections and focuses on the central question: Is the youth still attracted to the BJP? Using data from...

• Studies in Indian Politics

The economic theory of voting has long remained a cornerstone in the study of voting behaviour, especially in economically developed democracies. At the heart of it is the assumption that economic contexts shape voting choice and influence electoral outcomes as management of the economy is an important function of governments and that citizens hold elected representatives accountable for the...

• Studies in Indian Politics

The practice of International Relations (IR) in India dates back to the 1950s and the establishment of the Indian School of International Studies (ISIS). Despite an early start, IR in India struggled to establish itself as a discipline due to domestic and institutional issues. Prominent criticisms of Indian IR include a lack of methodological rigour, an absence of theory, and low contributions to

• Studies in Indian Politics

Ruchi Chaturvedi, Violence of Democracy: Interparty Conflict in South India. Orient BlackSwan, 2023, 250 pp., ₹1125.

• Studies in Indian Politics

Voting studies tell us that voters reward incumbents who take care of the economic self-interest of voters. However, is the relationship between services and votes simple and straightforward? Are there conditions when welfare provisioning does not convert into votes for the incumbent? Data from the National Election Studies 2024 appears to suggest that voters are discerning and concerned about...

• Studies in Indian Politics

In this article, we compare the Indian experience with that of some of the multinational and multi-level polities from the Global North, namely Belgium, Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom. We first summarize the essence of multinationalism. Drawing from our comparative examples of the Global North we then show how dominant narratives of state nationalism condition the extent to which the state...

• Studies in Indian Politics

• Studies in Indian Politics

Voters’ perception of how satisfied they are with the work of the incumbent government is decisive for their voting decision, with satisfaction in most cases leading to support for the incumbent government and dissatisfaction leading to votes against it. This article is not about exploring the relationship between satisfaction with the incumbent party’s performance and voting for it. The main...

• Studies in Indian Politics

This article studies the patterns of women’s vote in the Lok Sabha elections in India in 2024. It draws upon the National Election Studies (NES) data of 2024 and of previous years to address three key questions related to women’s vote in Indian elections. The first is about the extent of Indian women’s political participation in the wake of increased turnout of women voters and the closing of the

• Studies in Indian Politics

There are two dominant explanations of contemporary Muslim voting behaviour. A section of public commentators reiterates an old argument that Muslims always participate in politics to defeat the BJP. This argument is not entirely incorrect. The BJP did not deviate from its Modi-centric Hindutva-driven campaign. The party relied heavily on an apparent anti-Muslim rhetoric to reach out to its core...

• Studies in Indian Politics

• Studies in Indian Politics

Sudha Pai and Sajjan Kumar. Maya, Modi, Azad: Dalit Politics in the Times of Hindutva. Noida, Uttar Pradesh: Harper Collins, 2023, 305 pp., ₹599.

• Studies in Indian Politics

Sujata Patel, D. Parthasarathy and George Jose (Eds.), Mumbai/Bombay: Majoritarian Neoliberalism, Informality, Resistance, and Wellbeing. New Delhi: Routledge Publications, 2022, 257pp., ₹1,299.

• Studies in Indian Politics

This article analyses the trajectories of secularization, de-secularization and re-secularization in Bangladesh. It is about mapping broad historical developments with reference to basic understanding of secularization and its progress in Bangladesh. The central question in the article is: How have the trajectories of secularization, de-secularization and re-secularization in Bangladesh been...

• Studies in Indian Politics

The article explores the positioning of the political elite of a marginalized minority community in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The co-option of Pasmanda elites within the BJP has seemingly transformed the nature of Pasmanda politics. The article argues that the non-ideological assertion of the Pasmanda elites leaves little room for politics of autonomy. These elites are drawn from the newly-educa

• Studies in Indian Politics

The 1980s proved critical not merely for contemporary Afghan history but also for the women’s struggle in Afghanistan. Showcasing Afghan women’s struggles, this article argues that the 1980s proved crucial in shaping feminist debates in Afghanistan. Arguably, Afghan women’s lived experience from the 1980s drove home the conclusion that foreign occupation does not bring women freedoms, while...

• Studies in Indian Politics

• Studies in Indian Politics

• Studies in Indian Politics

The rise of the BJP is usually credited for the shift towards the Hindutva politics in India, but other political parties are also not immune to using confession for electoral purposes. This article discusses how, despite living together for years, a large number of Hindus differently imagine the citizens belonging to the minority religious communities and vice versa. The article then examines...

• Studies in Indian Politics

South Asia witnessed a number of transnational solidarities, some of which it was home to, others that drew the region into their ambit. Articulations of national identity, evident in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, marked shifting definitions of the politico-cultural community in South Asia. Concurrently, there was a congealing of ideological connections that straddled continents such as the leftist...

• Studies in Indian Politics

The armed ethnic warfare that has been raging in Manipur since May of last year is unprecedented. It pits the state’s subnational majority Meiteis against Kukis—a subnational minority in the state. The ethnicization of law enforcement and the looting of arms from police stations by mobs have created a situation in the state that now resembles a civil war. There is ample evidence pointing to the...

• Studies in Indian Politics

• Studies in Indian Politics

Through an ethnographic study of Kanwar Yatra celebrations in a north Indian city, this article seeks to highlight the changing notions of public religiosity and mass celebrations in contemporary India. This article will first show how the festival of Kanwar Yatra is invested with diverse forms of religious performance and carnivalesque celebrations. In itself, these celebrations especially...