How caste affects politics and politics …

Politics in Caste

The caste system in India can also become politicised in the following ways:

• When a particular caste tries to gain prominence by adding many neighbouring castes and sub-castes which were earlier not included.
• The caste system also becomes politicised when caste groups are required to enter into a coalition with other castes. In such a case, every caste tries to gain maximum benefits for itself.
• Of late, many caste groups have gained entry into politics by terming themselves as ‘backward’ or ‘forward’ caste groups.

It is to be noticed that the existence of the caste system is itself not healthy for any democracy. It mostly produces negative results. In India, it has resulted in the vicious circle of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy for many castes. The caste system may also lead to caste division, caste violence and conflicts resulting in violence.

However, we also need to keep in mind that the caste system always does not play a role in shaping politics or deciding the candidates from a constituency. This is due to the following reasons:

• Not every constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. Therefore, every party is required to win the trust of the people belonging to different castes.
• No political party wins all the votes of a particular favoured caste or community. When people say that caste is a ‘vote bank’, they simply mean that many people from that one particular caste may vote for the party.
• Because several political parties fight elections, there may be many candidates from the same caste fighting elections against each other.
• It has been seen that many elected MPs or MLAs may lose the elections. If candidates are elected on caste lines, then no candidate can ever lose the elections.