Caste alignments and electoral behavior in India: Changing patterns in post-2014 general elections

The present paper will focus on the developments in the accommodations of caste mobilisation and Indian electoral behaviour since the 2014 general election, along with particular consideration to the two victories of the Modi-led BJP (2014, 2019) and the reversal of those patterns in 2024. The paper argues that three broad and interacting processes help explain the changing patterns of caste alignments in post-2014 India. And it could be (1) strategic social engineering by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which restructured cross-caste alliances; (2) depoliticization of caste by ideological/religious mobilisation (Hindutva) which sometimes cross-cut caste; and (3) context-specific counter-mobilisations by state and caste-based parties which rode on grievances and reservation politics. The paper, to identify the trends in caste realignments (upper castes, non-Yadav OBCs, Dalits and Yadavs/Muslim alliances), analyze their causes, and make implications to Indian party politics and social policy using national survey evidence (Lokniti/CSDS NES 2019 and related analyses), secondary literature, and recent election results and coverage.