Haryana is a reminder how firmly Indian politics is controlled by caste

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It’s a familiar narrative: the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindutva agenda has overridden caste as the main factor of Indian politics, many claim.

At first glance, that assertion does seem to hold. Since the 1967 general elections, caste has been an explicit factor in Indian politics. Before this, upper castes controlled almost all the levers of politics. However, starting in the 1960s, many backward castes stepped up to claim power. By the 1990s, this process had included even Dalits.

Winning an election began to seem like a simple maths problem. Add up the required castes and cross the finishing line.

Under the hood

The rise of Modi in 2014 gave the impression that a new equation was now operating. The BJP spoke in public of Hindu nationalism. It was apparent that the prime minister’s personal appeal did bring in a lot of votes – much like Nehru and Indira Gandhi did for the Congress.

Under the hood, however, caste continued to...

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