Rethinking State Politics in India

Focusing on the twin issues of identity and development that are often signifiers of the unravelling politics in the federal polity, the book make a concerted attempt to look at (and beyond) the states by exploring the specificities of the regions within these states. It does so through a comparative study from the vantage point of democratic politics as it unfurls in recent India. Emphasising that regions within the states are not merely politico-administrative instituted constructs but are also imagined or constituted, among others, in historical, geographic, economic, sociological or cultural terms, it argues that any meaningful comparative study of the regions would naturally straddle the disciplinary boundaries of social sciences. The book attempts to go beyond the states and look at the regions within them as a distinctive analytical category for an in-depth study of the democratic politics of identity and development unfolding at the state level.

Ashutosh Kumar is Professor, Department of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.

Introduction Part 1: United Colours of New States 1. Rethinking 'Regional Developmental Imbalances'; Spatial Versus the Socio-Political 'Region': The Case of Tribals in Jharkhand Amit Prakash 2. Constitution of a Region: A Study of Chhattisgarh Dharmendra Kumar 3. The Creation of a Region: Politics of Identity and Development in Uttarakhand Pampa Mukherjee Part 2: Quest for Territorial Homeland 4. Regions within Region and their Movements in Karnataka: Nuances, Claims and Ambiguities Muzaffar Assadi 5. Backwardness and Political Articulation of Backwardness in the North Bengal Region of West Bengal Arun K. Jana 6. Assertion of a Region: Exploring the Demand for Telengana Rama Rao Bonagani 7. Region, Caste and Politics of 'Reverse Discrimination': The Case of Harit Pradesh Jagpal Singh 8. Regions Within but Democracy Without: A Study of India's Northeast Samir Kumar Das 9. Politics of Autonomy in a Comparative Perspective: Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir Ashutosh Kumar Part 3: Caste and Politics of Marginality 10. Garv Se Kahon Hum Lingayat Hain! Caste Associations and Identity Politics in Maharashtra Rajeshwari Deshpande 11. Emergence of Dalit Organizations in Tamil Nadu: Causes, Forms of Assertion and Impact on the State Politics Neeru Sharma-Mehra 12. Affirmative Action, Group Rights and Democracy: The Mala-Madiga Conflict in Andhra Pradesh Sudha Pai 13. Caste and Marginality in Punjab: Looking for Regional Specificities Ronki Ram Part 4: State Electoral Politics: Regional Variance 14. Sub-regions, Identity and the Nature of Political Competition in Rajasthan Sanjay Lodha 15. Negotiating Political Spaces: A Case Study of Karnataka Sandeep Shastri Part 5: Politics of Public Policy 16. Political Regimes and Economic Reforms: A Study of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh Ashok K. Pankaj. About the Editor. Notes on Contributors. Index