The increased focus on caste in politics gives an impression that caste and elections are the two sides of the same coin. But it is not true.
(a) No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. So, every candidate and party needs to win the confidence of more than one caste and community to win elections.
(b) No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community. When people say that a caste is ‘vote bank’ of one party, it usually means that a large proportion of the voters from that caste vote for that party.
(c) Many political parties may put up candidates from the same caste (if that caste is believed to dominate the electorate in particular constituency). Some voters have more than one candidate from their caste while many voters have no candidate from their caste.
(d) The ruling party and the sitting MP or MLA frequently lose elections in our country. That could not have happened if all castes and communities were frozen in their political preferences.
(e) The voters have strong attachment to political parties, which is often stronger than their attachment to their caste or community.
(f) People within the same caste or community have different interests depending on their economic condition. Rich and poor or men and ***** from the same caste often vote very differently.
(g) People’* assessment of the performance of the government and the popularity rating of the leaders matter and are often decisive in elections.
