Indian Politics & Policy Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2020 | Page 98

Indian Politics & Policy
gious minorities were the most active,
but among the others, the upper castes
and those belonging to the other backward
classes were the most active. Level
of education and economic status has
a positive relationship with electoral
participation for both groups (Table 2).
However, such an association between
the two is not visible when it comes to
voting and the better placed or those of
higher economic status vote less often
than their counterparts.
c. Party Preference
The scale of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s
(BJP) victory in India’s 2019 election
Table 2: Participation in Electoral Activities by Socioeconomic Status
Participation in electoral activities (%)
94
Youth
Caste and communities
Others
Upper Caste 33 27
OBC 30 27
Scheduled Caste 26 25
Scheduled Tribe 27 23
Muslim 28 25
Other religious minorities 36 25
Level of education
Non Literate 14 18
Up to primary education 25 25
Up to matric education 27 30
College and above education 33 32
Locality
Rural 29 25
Urban 31 28
Economic class
Poor 22 20
Lower 27 26
Middle 37 31
Rich 38 31
Gender
Women 19 18
Men 38 33
Source: CSDS data unit
Note: All figures are in percentages