Q. Discuss the social bases of political mobilization in Independent India. Has some change occurred in these during the last 60-70 years?

Model Answer:

Political mobilization in India has evolved from primordial loyalties to complex democratic negotiations over the last seven decades.

Evolution of Social Bases

• Traditional Ties: Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph mapped a shift from vertical mobilization (patron-client dominant castes) to horizontal mobilization (caste associations).
• Caste Politics: M.N. Srinivas coined the “Vote Bank”. In Caste in Indian Politics, Rajni Kothari observed the “politicization of caste” as an instrument of secular democratic mobilization.
• Class & Tribe: A.R. Desai highlighted agrarian class struggles; Virginius Xaxa noted tribal ethnic assertion against marginalization.

• Differential Mobilization: Yogendra Yadav’s “Second Democratic Upsurge” captures the 1990s OBC rise (Christophe Jaffrelot’s “Silent Revolution”), increasingly fragmenting into pragmatic modern caste-alliances (Dipankar Gupta).

Contemporary politics heavily utilizes “Labharthi” (beneficiary) and gender voting bases. This exemplifies Partha Chatterjee’s “Political Society”, where marginalized masses are mobilized via targeted state welfare.

Conclusion

Shifting from vertical patronage to cross-cutting cleavages, Yogendra Yadav’s “Third Democratic Upsurge”—driven by aspirational youth and women—reflects India’s continuously deepening political sociology beyond traditional loyalties.