ABSTRACT
The role played by caste in politics in India has been extensively studied but there is very little exploration of the impact of increased fiscal devolution on political contestation and caste at the Panchayat level. Based on a ten-year (2007–2017) ethnographic study, conducted in ten Gram Panchayats from the districts of Gulbarga and Raichur in north Karnataka, this chapter shows that the increased budgetary allocations have not only led to increased political contestation but also important social change in terms of creating new forms of inter- and intra-caste mobilisation and alliances. These new forms of contestations and alliances are not only breaking down caste-based traditional structures of dominance and patronage networks but also changing the rules of the game, thus forcing the traditional political elites to adapt and accommodate. Consequently what is emerging in northern Karnataka is a dualistic, contradictory but intertwined model of democracy – one where the traditional political players use the local political space to regroup and remobilise in order to maintain caste cohesion, juxtaposed with the new entrants, particularly lower caste groups and educated youth, who are crafting new forms of inter- and intra-caste alliances to stake economic and political claims in a region where other economic opportunities are limited.
