ABSTRACT
In the local political arena Yadav political leaders need to present themselves as committed to their caste welfare and to the well-being of the other ‘backward castes’, but they also need to have a reputation of being efficient brokers between their voters and the state and this is generally more and more equated with having ties with the underworld. This chapter explores how, at the rhetorical level, these sets of commitments are addressed by a political language which is centred on a Krishna who is muscular, democratic and socialist. Ideologies of caste and essence together with muscular body languages, virile symbols and martial heroic caste narratives are used by Yadav political leaders to mobilise their audiences, and by ordinary Yadavs to legitimise their way of ‘doing’ and ‘participating’ in politics. Most local Yadavs think that it is precisely through ‘politics’ and ‘goondaism’ that they obtained ‘dignity’, ‘power’ and importantly, wealth.
