Depoliticisation and Ideational Vision

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The German National Library lists this publication in the German National Bibliography; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Chakrabarty, Bidyut, 1958- author

Title: Depoliticisation and Ideational Vision: The 2024 Lok Sabha Elections in India / Bidyut Chakrabarty.

Other titles: 2024 Lok Sabha poll in India

Description: Oxford ; New York : Peter Lang, [2025] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “The book is an in-depth study of the eighteenth Lok Sabha elections held in India. Besides dwelling on the factors that acted critically in exercising voting rights by the voters, the text also highlights how the voters established their hegemony while casting votes in accordance with their priorities. Indian voters exercised their franchise rights most judiciously, and the 2024 poll outcome evinced”-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2025008213 (print) | LCCN 2025008214 (ebook) | ISBN 9781803749495 paperback | ISBN 9781803749501 ebook | ISBN 9781803749518 epub

Subjects: LCSH: India. Parliament. Lok Sabha--Elections, 2024 | Voting--India | Voting--India--West Bengal | India--Politics and government--1947-

Classification: LCC JQ292 .C44 2025 (print) | LCC JQ292 (ebook) | DDC 324.954/140905--dc23/eng/20250508

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2025008213

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2025008214

The experiences, opinions and words expressed in the book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Peter Lang as the publisher.

Cover image: Indian Flag, pixabay.com

Cover design by Peter Lang Group AG

ISBN 978-1-80374-949-5 (print)

ISBN 978-1-80374-950-1 (ePDF)

ISBN 978-1-80374-951-8 (ePub)

DOI 10.3726/b22684

© 2025 Peter Lang Group AG, Lausanne (Switzerland)

Published by Peter Lang Pvt Ltd, Chennai (India)

info@peterlang.com    www.peterlang.com

Bidyut Chakrabarty has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this Work.

All rights reserved.

All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.

Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.

This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.

This publication has been peer reviewed.

To the foot soldiers of democracy

Table of Contents

List of Tables

Preface

Introduction

Part A – The National Scene

Chapter 1Contextualising the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls

Chapter 2The 2024 National Poll: Creative Blending of National and Regional Voices

Chapter 3Regional Variations in 2024 Parliamentary Election

Part B – The Regional Scene

Chapter 4The Rise of West Bengal: Everything Then and Nearly Nothing Now

Chapter 5The Changing Political Tapestry of West Bengal, 1977–2011

Chapter 6Changing Political Tapestry in West Bengal During the 2024 Parliamentary Elections

Conclusion

Bibliographical Notes

Bibliography

Index

Tables

Table 1.Election results, 2014 and 2019

Table 2.Lok Sabha poll in Odisha, 2024

Table 3.Social profile of the voters and party support

Table 4.Results of the parties in the fray, 2024 Lok Sabha poll

Table 5.Results of the State Assembly election, 2024

Table 6.Results of Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha poll, 2024

Table 7.The 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections

Table 8.Caste community voting pattern in Uttar Pradesh, 2024 (figures in percentages)

Table 9.Results of Varanasi Lok Sabha polls, held in 2019 and 2024

Table 10.Results of Lok Sabha poll, 2024

Table 11.Performance of the Congress and CPM in 2024 Lok Sabha polls

Table 12.Result of 2021 West Bengal state assembly elections

Table 13.The 2006 West Bengal assembly results

Table 14.Share of the Left Front votes in the panchayats and zila parishads

Table 15.Indices of poverty in West Bengal

Table 16.Electoral performance of TMC, 2006

Table 17.Results of the 2011 West Bengal State assembly polls

Table 18.Results of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, West Bengal

Preface

This is an ethnographic study complemented by inputs from the website of the Election Commission of India. I owe a debt of gratitude to many who helped me gather data by being interactive informally, particularly those from Indian provinces in the Hindi heartland and West Bengal. As the aim was to understand voting behaviour, the informal dialogues hovered around those which were likely to have been decisive in shaping the voters’ choice of political parties and candidates in the fray. The Hindi heartland was the most significant since it was uncritically accepted by many that Ram Mandir was likely to help the incumbent ruling dispensation win nearly all the seats. It was a fulfilment of a commitment that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders made in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. West Bengal was equally important for the study because it was nearly universally believed that Trinamul Congress (TMC), the incumbent ruling party, was likely to see a reversal because of the exposé of financial scams in which its top leadership was involved. With their incarceration, the charge that they made disproportionate assets was established beyond doubt. The BJP ideologues and its grassroots workers also were very sure that its electoral performance would be better this time as the TMC was defensive. In both cases, the poll outcome was contrary to what was expected by many. The study thus confirms that there is hardly a static formula to persuasively comprehend voting behaviour in India.

The book is drawn on many supportive inputs I received from my friends and co-workers. I express my heartfelt gratitude to them. I owe a great deal to Indrani Dutta, the acquisition editor of Peter Lang International Academic Publishers because, without her personal interests in the project, it would not have been possible for me to complete the manuscript within a stipulated deadline. I was also keen to publish the book given the topicality of the theme; it should hit the stands as soon as possible. I am glad that my editor understood my point and expedited the processes to honour her commitment.