I don’t research Indian elections, other than the violent ones, but I try to keep a close eye on north Indian politics in particular. Here are two pieces I’ve found particularly useful over the past couple weeks.
- As the Samajwadi Party comes apart in father-son, feuding, this is Neha Dixit’s Caravan profile of the son, Akhilesh Yadav. It’s very long but well worth reading.
- Christophe Jaffrelot argues in The Indian Express that India’s “jobless growth” will drive escalating demands for caste-based quotas, which in turn cannot actually solve the underlying political-economic problem. India risks growth without jobs, and demographic expansion without a sufficiently skilled and educated labor force. The implications for political stability over the long run are quite ominous.
Paul Staniland 