question_answer

State two reasons to say that caste alone cannot determine election result in India.

Or

Discuss the influence of casteism in the electoral politics in India.

 

Answer:

The focus on caste in politics sometimes gives an impression that elections are all about caste and nothing else. We can state following reasons for the same:

(i) No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single party. So, every candidate and party needs to win the confidence of more than one caste and community to win elections.

(ii) People within the same caste or community have different interests depending on their economic condition like rich and poor or men and women from the same caste often vote very differently.

(iii) Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste. Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste while many voters have no candidate from their caste.

(iv) People's assessment of the performance of the government and the popularity rating of the leaders matter and are often decisive in elections.

              (Any two) Hence, we can clearly conclude that "caste alone cannot determine election result in India."