Dalits and politics in rural North India: The Bahujan Samaj party in Uttar Pradesh |
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Authors: | Ian Duncan |
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Affiliation: | School of African and Asian Studies , University of Sussex , Brighton, BNl 9QN |
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Abstract: | In the last decade the Bahaujan Samaj Party has established a strong electoral presence in northern India. It has been particularly successful in Uttar Pradesh where it has participated in government three times in the 1990s. Although the party seeks to mobilise the support of the ‘bahujan’ — the non‐high caste majority of the population — it is argued here, on the basis of aggregate and survey analysis, that it has been constrained by its excessive reliance on just some sections of former untouchables (Dalits). The Bahujan Samaj Party represents a significant social and political movement of some Dalit groups but it has failed to secure the support of the wider population of the rural poor. |
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