SOCIOLOGY IN INDIA

DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY IN THE PREINDEPENDENCE PERIOD

The origin of sociology and social anthropology in India can be traced to the days when the British officials
realized the need to understand the native society and its culture in the interest of smooth administration.
However, it was only during the twenties of the last century that steps were taken to introduce sociology and
social anthropology as academic disciplines in Indian universities. The popularity that these subjects enjoy
today and their professionalization is, however, a post-independence phenomenon. Attempts have been
made by scholars from time to time to outline the historical developments, to highlight the salient trends and
to identify the crucial problems of these subjects. Sociology and social/cultural anthropology are cognate
disciplines and are in fact indissoluble. However, the two disciplines have existed and functioned in a
compartmentalized manner in the European continent as well as in the United States. This separation bears
the indelible impress of western colonialism and Euro-centrism. However, Indian sociologists and
anthropologists have made an attempt to integrate sociology and anthropology in research, teaching and
recruitment. They have made a prominent contribution to the development of indigenous studies of Indian
society and have set an enviable example before the Asian and African scholars. Another significant
contribution of Indian sociology and social/cultural anthropology lies in their endeavor to synthesize the text
and the context. This synthesis between the text and the context has provided valuable insights into the
dialectic of continuity and change to contemporary Indian society (Momin, 1997). It is difficult to understand
the origin and development of sociology in India without reference to its colonial history. By the second half
of the 19th century, the colonial state in India was about to undergo several major transformations. Land, and
the revenue and authority that accrued from the relationship between it and the state, had been fundamental
to the formation of the early colonial state, eclipsing the formation of Company rule in that combination of
formal and private trade that itself marked the formidable state-like functions of the country. The important
event that took place was the revolt of 1857, which showed that the British did not have any idea about
folkways and customs of the large masses of people. If they had knowledge about Indian society, the rebellion
of 1857 would not have taken place. This meant that a new science had to come to understand the roots of
Indian society. The aftermath of 1857 gave rise to ethnographic studies. It was with the rise of ethnography,
anthropology and sociology which began to provide empirical data of the colonial rule. Herbert Risley was
the pioneer of ethnographic studies in India. He entered the Indian Civil Services in 1857 with a posting in
Bengal. It was in his book Caste and Tribes of Bengal (1891) that Risley discussed Brahminical sociology,
talked about ethnography of the castes along with others that the importance of caste was brought to colonial
rulers. Nicholas Dirks {In Post Colonial Passages, Sourabh Dube, Oxford, 2004) observes:Risley’s final
ethnographic contribution to colonial knowledge thus ritualed the divineness of caste, as well as its
fundamental compatibility with politics only in the two registers of ancient Indian monarchy or modern Britain’s
‘benevolent despotism’. Thus, the ethnographic studies came into prominence under the influence of Risley.
He argued that to rule India caste should be discouraged. This whole period of 19th century gave rise to
ethnographic studies, i.e., studies of caste, religion, rituals, customs, which provided a foundation to colonial
rule for establishing dominance over India.

DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY IN THE POST-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD

The next phase, as mentioned by Lakshmanna (1974: 45), in the growth of the subject, corresponds to the
period between the attainment of independence and the acceptance of the regional language as the medium
of instruction in most states of the country. Towards the end of this period, we also witnessed the interest on
the part of the Central Government to promote social science research through a formal organization
established for the purpose. This phase alone experienced tremendous amount of interaction within the
profession as two parallel organizations started functioning for the promotion of the profession. In Bombay,
Indian Sociological Society was established and Sociological Bulletin was issued as the official organ of the
society. This helped to a large extent in creating a forum for publication of sociological literature. Lucknow
school, on the other hand, started the All India Annual Sociological Conference for professional interaction.
Lakshmanna identifies that the research efforts mainly progress on three lines. First, there was large-scale
doctoral research in the university. Second, the growing needs of the planners and administrators on the one
hand and the realization of increasing importance of sociological thinking and research in the planning
process on the other, opened up opportunities for research projects. Third, during this period, the growing
importance of social science research also resulted in the establishment of research institutes. The
development of research activity also meant the enlargement of the employment opportunities at all levels.
Correspondingly, there was also an increase in the number of universities and college departments. This
period also noticed considerable vertical and horizontal mobility in the profession. Teaching of sociology got
well established in the fifties. This period reflected three things as marked by Rao (1982). First, sociology
achieved greater academic status. Not only many more universities and colleges began to teach at the
postgraduate and graduate levels but the discipline itself became more focused in theoretical orientation and
highly diversified in its specialization. Secondly, sociology established its identity as discipline by separating
itself from psychology, anthropology, social philosophy and social work. Although, in some universities, still
social pathology and social psychology are taught as a part of sociology courses. In many others, a highly
diversified curriculum structure in proper sociology exists including such specialization as rural and urban
sociology, sociology of kinship, sociology of religion, sociology of stratification, sociology of education, political
sociology, medical sociology, social demography and sociology of economic development. Thirdly,
diversification followed the lines of extension of sociological approach to different areas of social life. It was
related to the growing needs of development in independent India. Colonial legacy became a thing of the
past and democratic processes were introduced at all levels.

CONTEMPORARY TRENDS OF RESEARCH IN SOCIOLOGY IN INDIA

Sociologist make use of different designs and methods in order to study society and social behaviour. These
different design and methods are called as rese`arch practices. There are various popular research practices,
survey research, observational research, cross-cultural research and secondary analysis research. Entire
process of carrying out a pattern of research is called as research methodology Researcher uses various
techniques to collect the information from the population. These techniques include interview, questionnaire,
focus group, participant observation and interview schedule. Sample is a small part of the universe which is
representative of different elements comprising the universe e.g. if we are doing a study on the carrier choices
of college students of Mumbai, then students of all colleges in Mumbai will comprise the universe sample.
On the other hand will consist of those few colleges which are finally selected for the purpose of data
collection.
QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
1. Qualitative research refers lo an in depth understanding of human behavior and reasons that govern such
behavior in a manner that doesnot involve mathematical calculations. Quantitative research refers to the
systematic empirical investigation with the help of statistical mathematical or computational techniques.
2. Qualitative research needs smaller but focused samples. Quantitative research needs bigger sample of
data.
3. Qualitative research involves crimination, analysis and interpretensions of observations. Quantitative
research involves verification. Validation and recording of observation.
4. Qualitative research requires broad questions to be asked and collection of descriptive data. Quantitative
research requires narrow specific questions to be asked and collection of numerical data.
5. Qualitative research produces information only on the particular case study and any more general
conclusion are only hypotheses. Quantitative research produces information which is more general and which
can be used to verify the hypotheses.
6. Qualitative research is the initial step that is taken towards gaining information. Quantitative research
comes after qualitative research where by the theories put forward by the Qualitative research are tested.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF M.N. SRINIVAS
Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas was born on 16thNovember, 1916 in Mysore in a Brahmin family and died
in 1999 at the age of 83 at Bangalore. He achieved M.A, LLB. and Ph.D. from Bombay and D. Phil. from
Oxford. He was a student of G.S. Ghurye in Bombay University. He has contributed significantly as a
researcher as well as an institutional builder. He must be given credit for setting up the department of
Sociology at M.S University, Baroda. He has also contributed a lot for the setting up of the Department of
Sociology at Delhi University (Nagla, 2008).
1 Methodology M.N Srinivas has introduced the tradition of macro-sociological generalization on micro-
anthropological insight and of giving a sociological sweep and perspective to anthropological investigation of
small scale communities (Joshi, 2000). He was very much influenced by Radcliffe-Brown’s idea of structure.
Radcliffe-Brown was his teacher at Oxford. M.N Srinivas is credited to have initiated a new line of
structuralfunctional analysis in sociological and social anthropological research in India. Srinivas did not rely
on Western textbooks or indigenous ancient textsto know about his countrymen,rather he tried to know
themthrough direct observation, field experience and field study. Srinivas is of the view that there are two
basic concepts to understand our society—book view and field view. We have already discussed about these
concepts in Unit 2 of Module one. Book view which is also known as Indology is not acceptable to Srinivas
for which he emphasized on Field view. Srinivas believes that knowledge about Indian society can be gained
through fieldwork. So, he emphasized on intensive fieldworkand wrote many books on the basis of the field
data. According to him, book view gives a distorted picture of any phenomenon. His fieldwork has helped us
in revealing many facts about Indian society. After completing his fieldwork in Coorg and Rampura, he has
come up with many new concepts like Sanskritisation, dominant caste, etc.
2 M. N. Srinivas and His works Srinivas has focused on many important aspects of India society like religion,
culture, village community and social change, etc. By applying structural-functional approach he has studied
Indian society as a ‘totality’ (Patel, 1998). He has conducted his intensive field study in Coorg and Rampura
and wrote extensively on the following themes:
i) Dominant caste ii) Social Change iii) Religion and society iv) Caste
Some of his major works on the above-mentioned themes are as follows:
1. Marriage and Family in Mysore (1942) 2. Religion and Society among the Coorgs of South India (1952) 3.
India’s Village (1955) 4. Caste in Modern India and Other Essays (1962) 5. Social Change in Modern India
(1966) 6. The Remembered Village (1976) 7. India: Social Structure (1980) 8. The Dominant Caste and Other
Essays (1992) 9. The Fieldworker and the Field (1979) 10. Village, Caste, Gender and Method (1996) 11.
Indian Society through Personal Writings.
Besides all these, he has also written many other books and essays. His important workReligion and Society
among the Coorgs of South India is based on the intensive fieldwork where Srinivas has focused on social
and religious lives of the Coorgs. By explaining theinteraction in ritual context of different castes of the Coorgs,
he describes the concept of functional unity. After conducting his fieldwork on the Coorgs, he has formulated
the concept Brahminisation to refer to the process where the lower caste people imitate the lifestyle and
rituals of Brahmins. However, he has soon replaced Brahminisation with Sanskritisation.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF LOUIS DUMONT

Dumont has written on various aspects such as caste, Hinduism, kinship, and social as well as political
movements of India. Some of his major works are as follows:
i) La Tarasque (1951) ii) Hierarchy and Marriage Alliance in South India (1957) iii) Homo Hierarchicus: The
Caste System and Its Implications (1966, 1970) iv) Religion, Politics and History in India: Collected Papers
in Indian Sociology (1970) v) Homo aequalis (1977).
Dumont in his work Homo Hierarchicus, tries to give structuralist analysis of caste, and incidentally, of Indian
culture, society, and civilization (Srinivas, 1987: 137). Dumont has introduced the notions of ‘system’ and
‘structure’. He defines caste as “a system of ideas and values, a formal, comprehensible, rational system, a
system in the intellectual sense of the term” (Dumont, 1970: 35).
1 Methodology Dumont was an Indologist for which he emphasized on interpretation of texts. However, it is
also important to mention here that he has applied the method of structuralism to his study of caste system
and applied the concept of holism in Indian society which refers to a type of structure where different units
form an organic whole. It is important to mention here that the concept of holism is related to hierarchy and
a holistic society is defined basically as hierarchical one. The concept of hierarchy refers to the idea of
subordination, transcendence and interdependence. Nagla has pointed towards the four main elements of
Dumont’s methodology. These are:
i) ideology and structure ii) dialectic transformational relationship and comparison iii) Indological and
structural approach iv) cognitive historical approach (Nagla, 2008: 117)
2 Dumont’s View on Caste System Dumont was the first ideologist to give a theoretical account of caste
system where he was mostly concerned with the ideology of the caste system. He viewed that the ideology
of caste system in India is purely religious and this religious outlook determines the situation. In addition to
ideology and structure, the concept of hierarchy has a fundamental place in Dumont’s study of caste system
(Nagla, 2008: 117). Dumont’s concept of hierarchy is very much related to the religion which is again based
on the concept of purity and pollution. According to him, hierarchy is purely a matter of religious value and in
modern time hierarchy has become social stratification. He viewed that “hierarchy is a ladder of command in
which the lower rungs are encompassed in the higher ones in regular succession” (Dumont, 1970: 65).
Dumont considers hierarchy as one essential element for proper functioning of any society and a common
value system is not possible without a social hierarchy. According to Dumont, caste system segregates the
entire Indian society into a large number of hereditary groups. These groups can be distinguished from one
another and linked todifferent attributes. These are as follows:
i) Gradation of status or hierarchy: According to Dumont “hierarchy is a ladder of command in which the
lower rungs are encompassed in the higher ones in regular succession” (ibid). That means it arranges the
caste groups as comparatively superior or inferior to one another. The position of each caste group is
dependent on the positions of the other caste groups.
ii) Division of Labour: The caste system is marked by specialisation and interdependence of the constituent
groups. Each caste group is traditionally associated with an occupation from which its members can depart
only within certain limit. Specialisation necessitates separation between these groups, but it is oriented
towards the whole, which must be repeatedly emphasised.
iii) Separation: A member of a caste group always has obligation to marry within the group, which is known
as endogamy. The regulation of marriage is actually an expression of the principle of separation.

CONTRIBUTION TO B.R AMBEDKAR

People are immortal but not the ideas. This is something which set Ambedkar apart from contemporary
leaders. It is the Ambedkar ideals, ideas and vast amount of literature that not only kept Ambedkar alive but
also making him relevant in public imagination after close to 70 years of his death. Ambedkar had an immense
love for knowledge and books. This is visible from the fact that he had a 50,000 personal books collection in
his library on diverse areas. He himself produced volumes of work on diverse issues relating to governance,
economic and social policies and other contemporary issues then. However, it was his work on caste that
continues to inspire scholars, activists and common masses around the world. Some of Ambedkar’s works
were published during his lifetime itself. However, a significant amount was public after his death with the
efforts of activists, civil society groups and state support. One of the important aspects of Ambedkar literature
is that it is continuously growing and expanding. There are numerous biographies on Ambedkar already
written and published over a period of time. Nevertheless, Ambedkar literature is still expanding as vast
amount of research is going on capturing the minute details about his ideas, life and struggles. His works are
being published not only in English but also in the regional and other international languages. Ambedkar
literature is transcending the geographical, national and social barriers making him a global icon. These
translated works have inspired many marginalized groups around the world in their quest for justice and
equality. Ambedkar was not only a prolific writer but also a great orator. His speeches are also a great source
knowledge which he delivered at different platforms. These speeches are part of history and a legacy of
Ambedkar. These speeches are now also coming to public domain in the form of books, monographs and
memoirs. Some of the popular works of Ambedkar are ‘Caste In India: Its Genesis, Mechanism And
Development, Annihilation Of Caste’, ‘Riddles Of Hinduism’, ‘Who Were The Shudras’, ‘What Congress And
Gandhi Have Done To Untouchables, Gandhi And Gandhism, Pakistan Or Partition Of India’, ‘The Buddha
And His Dhamma’, ‘The Untouchables: Who Were They And Why They Became Untouchables’, ‘The Pali
Grammar’, ‘Who Were The Shudras: How They Came To Be The Fourth Varna In The Indo-Aryan Societ’y’,
Revolution And Counter Revolution In Ancient India’, ‘Philosophy Of Hinduism’, ‘The Problem Of The Rupee:
Its Origin And Solutions’, ‘Buddha Or Karl Marx?’, ‘States and Minorities’,‘Thoughts On Linguistic States’,
‘Ranade, Gandhi & Jinnah’, ‘Administration And Finance Of The East India Company’, ‘Federation Versus
Freedom’, ‘Communal Deadlock And A Way To Solve It’, ‘History Of The Indian Currency And Banking’,
‘Maharashtra As A Linguistic Province’, ‘Small Holdings In India And Their Remedies’, ‘Waiting For The Visa’.
We find a multi-dimensional personality of Ambedkar in the above literature. His works covers diverse areas
like religion, theology, history, philosophy, sociology, political science, economics, linguistics etc.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF D.P. MUKHARJEE

DP Mukerji was perhaps the most important pioneer of Indian sociology. Like everyone else, he resisted all
attempts to isolate social science knowledge. As a social philosopher, he studied more sociology. However,
he became an advocate of empiricism, including spiritual feeling. He was very interested in understanding
the nature and meaning of Indian social reality rooted in Indian traditions. He was equally interested in
adapting modern forces to the peculiarities of Indian tradition and finding ways to transform it to promote the
well-being of the common people was considered. Nevertheless, he introduced himself as a doctrineer or
dogmatic Marxist. It implied that he followed Marxism as a method of analysis rather than political ideology
can be regarded as interacting with each other dialectically in contemporary India. Dr. Mukerji contributed
Marxist sociological perspectives in India. He was open to Western ideas, concepts, and analytical
categories. Although he recognized the need for indigenous sociology and social anthropology, he never
wanted to separate these disciplines from the Western social traditions of India. Preferring to call himself a
"Marxist" rather than a "Marxist", he sought to dialectically interpret the encounter between Indian tradition
and modernity that unleashed the many forces of cultural contradiction during the colonial period. He focused
on the historical peculiarities of India's cultural and social changes, characterized by value adjustments and
cultural integration resulting from the encounter between tradition and modernity rather than "class struggle".
. Dr. Mukerji has never been involved in data collection or empirical methods of research. He preferred to be
a desk and chair researcher, a social commentator, a philosopher and a reader of culture. His academic
interests ranged from 'music and visual arts in the context of Indian culture' to 'Indian traditions in relation to
modernity' (Mukerji, 1948, 1958). He was not a prolific writer like his Lucknow contemporaries. But as an
intelligent and inspirational teacher, he left a powerful legacy that has influenced later Indian sociologists in
no small way. About Dr. Two points need to be emphasized in Mukerji's approach to understanding Indian
society, culture and change. First, like Radhakamal, he was very much against maintaining rigid barriers
between one social science discipline and another, sharing a historical perspective in both studies. Like
Gurier, they were interested in studying the structure and change of Indian society, but their work does not
present a new conceptual framework. Dr. Mukerji was a versatile scholar. He has written 19 of his books,
including his Diversities (1958). In Bengali he is ten and in English he is nine. His early publications include
Basic Concepts of Sociology (1932) and Personality and the Social Sciences (1924). Other publications
include: Modern Indian Culture (1942, revised and enlarged edition 1948), Problems of Indian Youth (1942),
and his Views and Counterviews (1946).
CASTE AND CLASS: INTERLINKED VIEW IN INDIA
Caste and class are the two main forms of social stratification. Let us now discuss the points where they
differ.

• Caste system with all its peculiarities is unique to India. It is not universal. On the other hand Class system
is universal. It is found almost in all societies of the world.

• Caste status of an individual is ascribed at birth. Birth, not achievement is the criterion of caste. Status can
neither be changed nor be improved. However, in case of class system, status is achieved by the individuals.
There is scope for achieving higher status. Hence, in class system, status can be changed or improved.

• It must be remembered that caste is a closed system; it restricts social mobility (movement) from one social
status to the other. By contrast, class is an open system. It provides opportunity to improve one’s social status
(which is called mobility) Individual can, move from lower to a higher class by dint of their achievement.

• Caste system is not secular like the class system. It is believed that caste system had a divine origin. It is
closely linked up with Hinduism, although caste is found among some other religious groups. On the other
hand class system is secular. It has no significant connection with any religion.

• The concept of purity and impurity (pollution) is ingrained in the caste system. Some castes are pure or
clean while some other castes are unclean, impure or even untouchables. In case of class system, although
there is a feeling of disparity between different classes, the question of purity and pollution does not arise.
Hence, there is no untouchable group in class system.

• Caste system regulates the activities and relations of its members to a great extent. It fixes the role of a
man in society. The class system on the other hand limits the range of contact and communications of its
members. Individuals are freer in a class. It also regulates the daily activities of its members

• l Comparatively greater social distance is kept between different caste groups, while there is less social
distance between different classes. Members of a class are more tolerant than others.

• Caste system tends to become more conservative, orthodox, and reactionary. On the other hand, social
classes are more tolerant and progressive than the caste system. It allows its members to achieve higher
status or great mobility. • Caste is an endogamous group. As we all know, it means caste members have to
choose their marriage partners from within the group. It is not the case with class system. Classes are not
endogamous.

• Caste system is a complex system. The fact that more than 2800 castes and sub castes are found in India
shows how complex it is. On the other hand class is its simplicity. Broadly speaking, there are only three
classes namely, the upper, middle and the lower class. Therefore the class system is not as complex as that
of castes.

• In a democratic country like India caste consciousness is more dangerous than class consciousness.
Casteism has been a great hindrance to national integration.
On the other hand class system never restricts the spirit of democracy. In the Indian society, both castes and
class exists side by side. At times, they also overlap.

CASTE: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS, IMPORTANCE IN ECONOMY AND POLITY

ORIGIN OF CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA
The caste system is a unique feature of Indian society and it has more than a thousand years of history.
Caste systems were passed through various stages in India. Different scholars have various viewpoints about
the origin of the caste system in India. The historical background of the caste system in India started in the
Vedic Period. (1500-1000 BCE) During those times, the people werecategorized based on their Varna or
Castes. In a broader sense, the term ‘varna’ means the hereditary roots of a newborn and it shows the color,
type, order, or class of people. Four principal varnas are:
a) Brahmins b) Kshatriyas c) Vaishyas d) Shudras
Each person in a Varna system is required to follow their own rules and regulations. Rigveda is considered
the earliest work that mentioned the Caste system in India. Based on this, Brahmana, Kshatriya, and Vaishya
are the first three classes of society. The first two categories were worked as the poet, priest, and warrior
chief. Vaishya is known as the common person.
CHRACTERSITICS OF CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA
G.S. Ghurye observes that the caste system in India has six characteristic features
(1)Segmental Division of Society The caste system divides society into various segments. A caste-based
society like India is not a homogenous society. It comprises the compartmentalization of the population into
various groups. Membership in this caste-based society is entirely ascribed tothe character.
(2) Hierarchy The caste system in India follows a pyramidical structure and it is called hierarchy. The
hierarchy in society determines the roles, position, life chances, and living resources of an individual. The
Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vaishya castes are known as s twice-born castes because of their dominant and
ritual purity in the past.
(3) Restrictions on Feeding and Social Intercourse The caste system follows strict rules about the feeding
and social intercourses of society. All types of food are divided into two types ‘Kachcha(cooked) and Pakka
(raw)’.
(4) Civil and Religious Disabilities and Privileges of the Different Sections Civil and religious disability
and privileges areimportant characteristics of a castebased society. Elite caste groups can get all types of
civil and religious privileges in society. On the same hand, the lower caste people were eliminated from all
these kinds of privileges.
(5) Lack of Unrestricted Choice of Occupation Each caste in society has its traditional occupation. Mobility
in occupational structure is not possible. The supreme castes are not allowing the subordinate castes to
change their occupational structure. Traditionally, the Brahmins believed their supremacy as being the Priest.
(6) Lack of Choice of Marriage (endogamy) Indian caste system prohibits the outer caste marriage system.
A person should marry members of their community. If one person is not following endogamy that is
considered a sin and endogamy are considered the essence of the caste system.
IMPORTANCE OF CASTE IN ECONOMY
It is generally believed that the caste system in India is shaped by the upper caste people for exploiting the
poor orlow-ranking castes. In caste hierarchy, each caste has a specific place and status. The upper caste
people have a higher level of economic benefits in society and the lower caste people have always low
economic benefits. The occupational difference in ancient India is a clear example of the rigid bond between
caste and economy. Caste has shaped the economic identity of a person in past. The upper caste people
had all the economic advantages and they were the higher paying category. Brahmins were engaged in
preaching, teaching, advising, etc. Kshatriyas were Kings, land owners, ministers, and soldiers. Vaisyas were
merchants and Sudras were engaged in carpentry, goldsmith and pottery activities, etc. Occupational mobility
was strictly banned during those periods. So, the chances of economic growth did not happen in those times.
By giving the allocations of occupation by birth, the caste system allowed the upper caste people to have the
right over resources. The land is the primary source of wealth in a rural economy like India. The ownership
of land was disproportionally distributed under the caste system. A large proportion of land was owned and
controlled by Kshatriyas. Lower caste people had a very less amount of land.
IMPORTANCE OF CASTE IN POLITY
Caste-based politics is an important phenomenon in contemporary times. The Indian political system is
entirely based on democratic values but the emergence of castebased politics makes threats to Indian
democracy. Now, caste is widely affecting people’s political decisionsto a wider extent. Caste affects the
political attitude of people in the following ways
a) Political Socialisation Caste values and caste interests are affecting the people during the political
socialization period. People are unconsciously attracted to caste-based politics.
b) Nomination of Candidates Caste plays a vital role during the period of nomination also. People are
nominating the most powerful persons of a caste group for getting more votes.
c) Influence of Caste on Political Propaganda of the Parties Political parties are making clear propaganda
based on caste values for getting caste votes.
d) Caste and voting behaviour Now, voters are more concentrated on the candidate’s caste than any other
quality. So, votes are demanded along with their caste lines. The victory of elections also depends on their
caste’s numerical strength.