2021, Vol. 3, Issue 2, Part C

Author(s): Afghan Ahmad

Abstract: This paper examines how caste and class jointly shape political participation in rural Uttar Pradesh (UP) with evidence limited to the 2011-2021 timeframe. Using official election statistics (UP Assembly 2017; Lok Sabha 2019), large household surveys (NFHS-5 fieldwork in UP during 2020-21), socio-economic profiling (SECC 2011), and nationally representative post-poll surveys (NES 2019), we analyze (a) electoral participation (turnout, issue salience), (b) local self-governance under the 73rd Amendment (reservations and Gram Sabha engagement), and (c) program-linked participation (with specific attention to MGNREGS and PDS as gateways). We argue that rural participation in UP is best understood as a caste-class assemblage: caste networks structure mobilization and party linkage; class resources (education, wealth, occupation, time) regulate the capacity to act on those networks. Institutional reservations have expanded descriptive representation but show uneven substantive gains without capacity support. Policy suggestions include improving caste-/gender-disaggregated participation metrics, transparent reservation rotation, and class-sensitive civic facilitation.

DOI: 10.33545/26646021.2021.v3.i2c.709

Pages: 164-167 | Views: 103 | Downloads: 2

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