Topic: Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
1. Caste-based vote-bank politics, rather than economic issues and social policy have determined India’s electoral choices. Critically analyse. (250 words)
Difficulty level: Tough
Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India
Why the question:
The Biju Janata Dal, led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, last week won the Padampur byelection, dubbed a crucial poll before the 2024 elections, by a huge margin than anticipated.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about impact of Caste-based vote-bank politics on the electoral politics.
Directive word:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a balanced judgment on the topic.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving context.
Body:
In the first part, Highlight the Factors driving voter behaviour – present rise of religious divisions and the persistence of strong caste-based cleavages, while education, income and occupation are playing a diminishing role (controlling for caste) in determining voters’ choices.
Next, write about economic and social issues as criteria for elections. Write about how society is progressing to caste-based politics to issue based.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward to end caste-based politics.
