ABSTRACT
During the first four decades since independence, India has become the scene of a curious political phenomenon. The characteristic feature of the post-colonial polity of India may be identified as the increasing distance between the mass of the people and the governing classes. 1 It is true that during the brief hiatus represented by the final phase of the Indian nationalist struggle under Gandhi's leadership (1919-47), the gulf separating the élite sections of the Indian National Congress at different levels on the one hand and the masses on the other was temporarily bridged by the goal of national independence, which both sides shared. But the major developments in India since the formation of an independent state, the control of whose power passed into the hands of the Congress Party through a process of negotiated transfer, have thrown into bold relief some of the unique characteristics of the Indian ruling classes. These bear the unmistakable imprint of influences inherited from the colonial era.
