Modi Consolidates Power: Electoral Vibrancy, Mounting Liberal Deficits

Issue Date October 2019
Volume 30
Issue 4
Page Numbers 63-77
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Narendra Modi has returned to power with an enhanced mandate, making him the most powerful Indian politician since Indira Gandhi. His victory in 2019 is based on a record turnout. It also shows a rising consolidation of Hindu votes, something the caste cleavages of Hindu society had earlier made virtually impossible. But this victory has come at a steep price. As Modi and turnouts are rising, India’s liberal freedoms are declining, and the Muslim community, India’s largest minority, is feeling truly besieged. The contradiction between electoral resilience and liberal deficits is becoming sharper and all too obvious.

About the Author

Ashutosh Varshney is Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences, and professor of political science at Brown University.

View all work by Ashutosh Varshney

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