ABSTRACT
The Uttar Pradesh chapter refers to a certain degree of negativity in the electoral campaign launched by the opposition parties as they focused on targeting Prime Minister Modi. It irked the electorates who trusted the Modi leadership. The authors argue that the verdict in the state arguably showed sure signs of maturing of the democratic process in the state as the caste-based clientelism and patronage were trumped by effective delivery of public goods and services ensured by the incumbent Yogi led BJP government. The traditional wisdom about the ‘cow-belt politics’ based on sectarian clientelistic exchanges in return for the vote and also caste based ‘social engineering’ did not work, causing setbacks for state-level ‘social justice’ parties. At the same time, the verdict in the largest state of India also carried a worrisome possibility of India becoming a democracy with majoritarian impulses.
