Indian Politics & Policy Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2020 | Page 50

Indian Politics & Policy
2 We say this with the understanding that any electoral issue could either work for or against the
incumbent government. We present a brief historical account of this in the first two sections.
3 We take Congress and the BJP for analysis in this paper because these parties have largely been
in power over the last 70 years and have also been the anchors around which political alliances
are formed. Further, the issues projected by these two parties largely capture the national sentiment.
4 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/07/10/india-is-no-longerhome-to-the-largest-number-of-poor-people-in-the-world-nigeria-is/?utm_term=.77
03da4d6c03.
5 Varshney, A. (2000). Why Haven’t Poor Democracies Eliminated Poverty? Asian Survey, 718-
736.
6 Thachil, Tariq. (2014). Elite Parties, Poor Voters: How Social Services Win Votes in India.
Cambridge University Press
7 Suhas Palshikar and Sanjay Kumar, “Participatory Norm: How Broad-Based is It?” Economic
and Political Weekly 39 (2004): 5412–17; Rajeshwari Deshpande, “How did Women Vote in
Lok Sabha Elections 2009?” Economic and Political Weekly XLIV (2009): 83–87; Syal, (2012).
Syal, Reetika. (2012). What are the Effects of Educational Mobility on Political Interest and
Participation in the Indian Electorate?. Asian Survey. Vol 52, No.2. pp. 42.
8 Carolyn Elliott, “Political Society, Civil Society, and the State in India,” Asian Survey 52 (2012):
348–72.
9 Christophe Jaffrelot, “Caste and Political Parties in India: Do Indians Vote their Caste—While
Casting their Votes,” in Routledge Handbook of Indian Politics, ed. A. Kohli and P. Singh (London:
Routledge, 2013).
10 Richard L. Park, “India's General Elections,” Far Eastern Survey 21 (1952): 1–8.
11 James R. Roach, “India’s 1957 Elections,” Far Eastern Survey 26 (1957): 65–78.
12 Norman D. Palmer, “India’s Fourth General Election,” Asian Survey 7 (1967): 275–91.
13 “Grievances, Not Issues to the Fore,” The Times of India, February 15, 1967.
14 By focusing on several issues such as the nationalisation of banks, disinheriting the Princes,
proposing ceilings on rural and urban property ownership, and publicly challenging big businesses,
Congress sought to move the electorate toward issues and away from the politics of
patronage; Myron Weiner, “The 1971 Elections and the Indian Party System,” Asian Survey
11 (1971): 1156. On top of it, Mrs. Gandhi used garibi hatao (eradicate poverty) as one of her
most important electoral slogans; Weiner, “The 1971 Elections and the Indian Party System,”
1153–66.
15 Myron Weiner, “The 1977 Parliamentary Elections in India,” Asian Survey 17 (1977): 619–26.
16 Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr., “India in 1984: Confrontation, Assassination, and Succession,”
Asian Survey 25 (1984): 131–44.
17 B.M., “Diverting Attention from Policy Issues,” Economic and Political Weekly 31 (1996): 318–
19.
18 Thakur, Ramesh. (1998). A Changing of the Guard in India. Asian Survey, University of California
Press, Vol. 38, No. 6, pp. 603-623
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