Democracy Dialogues Series 32

Theme : ‘Decoding the Verdict’

Speakers : 

Prof Zoya Hasan

Professor Emerita, JNU and Distinguished Faculty, Council for Social Development, New Delhi,

Dr Ajay Gudavarthy

Associate Professor, Centre for Political Studies,School of Social Sciences, JNU, New Delhi

Time: Sunday, Jun 16, 2024 06:00 PM (IST)

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The programme will be livestreamed at Facebook  facebook.com/newsocialistinitiative.nsi

Theme : ‘Decoding the Verdict’

Abstract (s) : 

#  India’s 2024 Elections : Implications for Democracy – Prof Zoya Hasan

The Bharatiya Janata Party fell short of an absolute majority which is a far cry from its claims made during the election campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party, which had expected a huge majority in the 2024 elections, were delivered a wake-up call by voters who gave the party just 240 seats, well short of the halfway mark of 272. The big surprise came from the keystone state of Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP and its allies got fewer seats than the INDIA bloc, which many had written off as disunited, divided and incoherent. The Congress-led INDIA alliance won 234 seats and posted 41.4 percent vote share against the 43.9 percent won by the NDA coalition. What do these elections signify? The verdict shows the limits of communal polarization as a mobilization strategy, which failed to strike a chord with voters, most notably in the Hindi heartland. Opposition unity, strategy and communication worked well in this election. Livelihood issues and social justice and equity questions were the mainstay of the opposition campaign. Finally, the 2024 election reinforced the vitality of India’s democracy contrary to the democratic backsliding witnessed in the last few years. The 2024 election will be remembered for India’s democratic resilience, a yearning for the defence of constitutional values and the significance of people’s issues as against identity politics. These three major takeaways which frame the big picture will be the focus of analysis.

# India in Search of Populist Constitutionalism – Prof Ajay Gudavarthy

The elections were a battle between authoritarian-populism and liberal constitutionalism. What the electorate seem to be hinting at is the need to reinvent both the ends of the spectrum to produce a unicorn democracy- a democracy that has cultural belonging with economic justice i.e a populist constitutionalism. As of today, political parties have offered an either/or choice. Modi‘s claims to development and economic mobility fell flat, and opposition parties‘ recalibrated cultural claims around being Hindu or adopting to local cultural idiom look inauthentic. Electorate is refusing to make a choice and compelling the ruling elite to reinvent a new version of a unicorn democracy that honors populism‘s cultural centrality, alongside constitutionalism‘s social and economic justice.

About the Speakers :

– Prof Zoya Hasan, Professor Emerita, JNU and Distinguished Faculty, Council for Social Development, New Delhi.  and a former member of the National Commission for Minorities. Prof. Hasan’s work has focussed on the State, political parties, ethnicity, gender and minorities in India, and society in north India. She has written and edited many books on state, political parties, ethnicity, gender and minorities in India and society in north India and has been a visiting Professor to the Universities of Zurich, Edinburgh and Maison des Sciences de L’Homme, Paris.

Her publications include Ideology and Organization in Indian Politics: Growing Polarization and the Decline of the Congress Party (2009-19) ( 2022) ; Forging Identities : Gender, Communities And The State In India ( edited, 2019) ,  Agitation to Legislation – Negotiating Equity and Justice in India (2018),  Congress after Indira: Policy, Power and Political Change (1984–2009), Politics of Inclusion: Castes, Minorities and Affirmative Action, (2009) and a collection of essays titled Democracy and the Crisis of Inequality“

– Dr Ajay Gudavarthy,  Associate Professor, Centre for Political Studies,School of Social Sciences, JNU, New Delhi is currently Associate Member, Institute for Humanities, Simon Fraser University, Canada. He was earlier Visiting Professor, Centre for Modern Indian Studies, Gottingen University, Germany; Visiting Fellow, Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and Rule of Law, University of Aberdeen, Scotland; and Charles Wallace Visiting Fellow, SOAS, London, UK.

His published works include Politics, Ethics and Emotions in New India (2023) ,India after Modi: Populism and the Right (2018), Revolutionary Violence versus Democracy: Narratives from India (SAGE, 2017), Maoism, Democracy and Globalisation: Cross-currents in Indian Politics (SAGE, 2014), Politics of Post-Civil Society: Contemporary History of Political Movements in India (SAGE, 2013), Re-framing Democracy and Agency in India: Interrogating Political Society (edited, 2012)