The Return of Thakurvad

The rise of the BJP ahead of and after the 2014 general election has been marked by the strong resurgence-or the further increase-of the representation of traditional elite groups across states, particularly those where the BJP won massive victories. In the Hindi belt, the upper castes obtained a representation that they had not achieved since before Mandal (42.7 per cent in 2014 against 32.4 per cent 10 years before).

In the Uttar Pradesh assembly, the overall representation of the upper castes jumped from 32.7 per cent in 2012 to 44.4 per cent in 2017. In Haryana, the cumulative representation of dominant groups (Jats and upper castes) has risen from 52 per cent to 62 per cent after the 2014 state election. In the current Assam assembly, nearly one BJP MLA out of two (47 per cent) is an upper caste, against 33 per cent among all MLAs.

Even in states where the BJP did not perform very well, traditional elite