Triumph of the Gujarati

Election 2019 reflects a victory of the Gujarat model. But not the model you are thinking of. Not even that other, more sinister model. It is something very fundamental, rooted deeply in economic ecologies.

Human beings are shaped fundamentally by the networks they find themselves embedded in. In India, these networks overwhelmingly take the shape of caste groups marked by an occupational role, social status and marital rules.

For the North Indian peasant, with an economy driven by land and service to an imperial power, caste identity emphasizes kinship and honor. Biradari literally means brotherhood, and membership is conditioned on izzat.

For the Gujarati merchant, in a dry region of relatively unproductive land, caste identity emphasizes pooled resources, adherence to fiscal norms and shared interests. Even for the peasant Patels, caste is today fundamentally an economic union, channelized into farming and dairy cooperatives.

2019 might well be the year that the North Indian peasant realizes the futility of imbibing a kinship and honor based caste identity. On the one hand, these networks simply do not provide the resources to grow and thrive in a post-agrarian world. And even if optimally politicized, the sheer number of caste groups makes the gains from achieving political power limited and concentrated.

The North Indian does realize the need for new kinds of networks. And Modi’s opening up of North India to the world, via a liberal visa policy, river transport from the Bay of Bengal all the way upto Noida and big ticket global engagement platforms like the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shinkansen would not have escaped the eye of the sharp Yadav and Jat, who realize that they will have to reach out to the world to grow.

After all, previous engagements with foreigners in the recent past have given Indians globally important automobile and IT industries.

India today is more open to the world than ever before. Everybody from Peru to Russia to Ghana to Indonesia can come in after submitting a simple electronic form. Less than 7 million people visited India in 2013, by 2016 that number more than doubled to 15 million. Modi’s Gujarati mind grasps the decisive role of networks in the growth of individual, and he might have well coaxed the North Indian to look beyond his caste tunnel.

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Saurav
Saurav
4 years ago

Bro , perhaps you are reading a bit too much into that (supposedly post caste politics). It is just one win. Glorious but nevertheless just one. I am a N-Indian and even i dont think we are that clever to grasp what the Gujrati is trying to show us. LOL

No one can pull us N-Indians (and Indians at large) into a post caste society .

What you are seeing is the solidification of the total U-Caste as a vote bank , with addition of large section of Hinduized OBC and some dalits. An unbeatable alliance under the large umbrella of Hinduism/Hindutva /Nationalism . The alliance in a sense of the “others”/ the rest of 50 percent of the population (outside the conventional vote banks).

Until it cracks , the “King in the North” can fend off the White Walkers. But what happens when it does crack…

Hoju
Hoju
4 years ago
Reply to  Saurav

It won’t crack given the low levels of development and outrageously high TFR in BIMARU states

Hoju
Hoju
4 years ago
Reply to  Vikram

It’s a perception driven by virtually every meaningful indicator of meeting developmental goals.

Dravidarya
Dravidarya
4 years ago
Reply to  Hoju

Why TFR? Let’s talk about birth rate by religious identity?

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
4 years ago
Reply to  Saurav

Well, it’s 2 wins now.

Razib Khan
Admin
4 years ago

does the future look like naomi scott? if so, i endorse that!

VijayVan
4 years ago

Triumphs of other Gujaratis MK Gandhi, MA Jinnah, V Patel in another generation was mixed result.

Ali Choudhury
Ali Choudhury
4 years ago

Modi’s “openness” does not extend to trade policy. India has erected more protectionist policies than any other country in the world this decade (Russia is on second place) and now has the highest average tariffs of any major global economy. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47857583

Growth will continue to undershoot expectations since no serious economic reforms are likely to be made. So the BJP will double down this cycle on Hindu consolidation and majoritarianism.

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
4 years ago
Reply to  Ali Choudhury

I’m not that pessimistic…BJP undershot the mark, but GST and bankruptcy reforms were good, and they’ve been decent on infrastructure and anticorruption. I predict a path of more slow and steady reforms.

Also have to be careful with reforming too fast, or Indian voters will get angry and throw you out…eg, Rao and Vajpayee.

Hoju
Hoju
4 years ago
Reply to  Ali Choudhury

They don’t even believe in delegating to experts. Another commenter had a great comment about how Modi and Shah run things like a mafia. This is why Rahul Gandhi was a better candidate. It’s ok to be dumb, as long as you are aware of it. It’s dangerous to be dumb and not be aware of it.

Saurav
Saurav
4 years ago

Why would any political leader in India bring reforms? So that it gets thrown out. The most ironic part is that regions/people which never vote for BJP are the ones who are at the fore front of demanding reforms from the BJP.

In their very own states their own people /state govt have done no reforms what so ever and follow even larger social programme than what BJP has even imagined. and they want the “centre” to do reforms. LOL

Saurav
Saurav
4 years ago

This is a very good article.

https://theprint.in/opinion/three-things-indian-liberals-held-dear-were-tested-this-lok-sabha-election/240116/

“Left scholarship and intellectualism thrived for long on something called “behalfism”, a wonderful coinage by Mukul Kesavan in his seminal book Secular Common Sense. Propounded by renowned scholars like Ranajit Guha and Gayatri Spivak, it referred to all those who are outside the power structure – mostly rural, the underclass, underprivileged, marginalised, and the salt-of-the-earth. It was the responsibility of the intellectual elite to speak for the subalterns – since they could not presumably speak for themselves – and be their guardians.

In his victory speech at the BJP headquarters Thursday, Modi said that just like Hindu god Krishna stood by the side of Hastinapur, Indian voters had sided with India. Modi begins his second term by invoking the dark-skinned son of a cowherd, not Ram, the king. The BJP’s mythological goalpost has just moved to a subaltern god. Except in this reimagination, the subalterns were speaking for Modi, not the other way around.”

Saurav
Saurav
4 years ago
Reply to  Vikram

On Modi’s Krishna appeal, i think its a gujrati thing (just like he invoking Patel,Gandhi). Also non-indic language is reading too much (he uses words like “Fakeri” as well)

To me one of the most fascinating thing is BJP unwilling-ness/inability (perhaps) to appropriate more gods in its political project.

For example why do they need to “import” Ram to Bengal, rather than Durga which they can do easily (i think) considering the atheist-ness of the ruling left and the image of mamta being muslim appeaser, all this years. Why havent they tried to use Shiva for example , considering his more universal subaltern appeal(greater than Ram) . Why havent they used Krishna for the yadavs . Would (trying to) appropriate them a double edged sword? Perhaps with Krishna it wouldn’t work considering Krishna is not that subaltern but a Hanuman or a Shiva would.

These questions fascinate me.

Prats
Prats
4 years ago

“Less than 7 million people visited India in 2013, by 2016 that number more than doubled to 15 million. ”

While tourist numbers have increased, this is not a fair comparison.
The former number is for foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) whereas the latter is for International Tourist Arrivals (ITA), which includes NRIs as well.

More details here: http://tourism.gov.in/sites/default/files/Other/ITS_Glance_2018_Eng_Version_for_Mail.pdf

Prats
Prats
4 years ago
Reply to  Vikram

“the most important festival in Eastern UP and Bihar is Dussehra”

The most important festival in Eastern UP and Bihar by an order of magnitude is actually Chhatth. Dussehra is certainly more important than Diwali, though.

My college in UP had a full 9 day vacation for Navratri + Dussehra but only 2 days for Diwali. Almost reverse for my friends in Delhi.

Brown Pundits