The Roots of Political Centralization in India
Neelanjan Sircar
January 31, 2022
In the latest issue of India in Transition, Neelanjan Sircar (Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi; CASI Fall 2021 Visiting Scholar and 2013-15 Postdoctoral Research Fellow) argues that political centralization, which has long been present at the state level in response to fickle politicians, is now being adapted to national politics in India.
This article is the third in a set of guest-edited IiT short series. The articles in this series seek to make sense of the many manifestations of political and economic centralization in India today, with a particular focus on the historical antecedents of India’s federal institutions and how greater centralization in these institutions is altering state-business relations, India’s welfare architecture, as well as electoral competition. In 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power with a thumping victory, winning 303 out of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. This marked the first time since 1984 that a single party won a majority of seats in back-to-back national elections, and the first time a party other than the Congress Party achieved this feat. This massive electoral mandate given to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has evidently ushered in a period of nearly unprecedented political and economic centralization. Recent months have seen a rapidly deteriorating relationship between the Centre and many states in India, so much so that Louise Tillin has referred to the current situation as “a defining moment for the future of Indian federalism.” (Guest Editor: Neelanjan Sircar, CASI Fall 2021 Visiting Scholar; Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research)
IiT articles are now being re-published in Scroll.in!
Centre vs States: Exploring the Historical Roots of India’s Distinctive Form of Federalism
Louise Tillin, January 4, 2022
Public Banks are Being Marginalised in the Lending Arena by New-Age Financial Power Brokers
Rohit Chandra, January 20, 2022
Ambassador Shyam Saran to Deliver Upcoming CASI-Khemka Lecture
On February 24, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. EST | 8:30 p.m. IST, Ambassador Shyam Saran (26th Foreign Secretary of India) will deliver a virtual CASI-Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture titled "Overlapping Peripheries: How Will India and China Navigate the Asian Century?" The lecture, moderated by discussant Ashley J. Tellis (Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs & Senior Fellow Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), is in partnership with the Andrea Mitchell Center, Center for the Study of Contemporary China, and Perry World House. [Register]
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2021-22 CASI Virtual Seminar Series
February 3, 2022, 12 noon EST | 10:30pm IST via Zoom
"Government of and by Apps: Mobile Infrastructures in 'Digital' India"
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CASI / South Asia Center / Penn Anthropology Seminar with Nafis Aziz Hasan (CASI Postdoctoral Research Fellow)
February 10, 2022, 12 noon EST | 10:30pm IST via Zoom
"Privileging One's Own? Voting Patterns and Politicized Spending in India"
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CASI / South Asia Center / Penn Comparative Politics Workshop Seminar with Francesca R. Jensenius (University of Oslo; Norwegian Institute of International Affairs)
February 17, 2022, 12 noon EST | 10:30pm IST via Zoom
"Why Do Poor Voters Choose a Pro-Rich Party in India?"
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CASI / South Asia Center / Dept. of South Asian Studies Book Talk with Christophe Jaffrelot (CERI at Sciences Po; King's India Institute; CNRS)
February 25, 2022, 9:30am-6:30pm EST | 8:00pm - 5:00am IST
"Migration: Points of Entry, Points of Departure"
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The Wolf Humanities Center’s 2021–22 Forum on Migration welcomes a group of scholars, artists, and activists as they discuss the experiences of refugees and immigrants while considering the past, present, and future of migration.
(Co-sponsored by the Mitchell Center, Annenberg School of Communications, Departments of Anthropology, History, and South Asia Studies, CASI, South Asia Center, and Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts)
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Event Videos:
January 27, 2022: CASI Book Talk "The Making of Land and the Making of India" with Nikita Sud (Oxford University) FULL VIDEO
January 20, 2022: CASI Book Talk "More Ideas, More Problems: Government Thinking During a Crisis" with Bilal Baloch (Enquire; CASI) FULL VIDEO
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