Since time immemorial , caste system has been prevalent in Indian society .

It started by
consisting of the four Varnas but later with time , it included within it innumerable number of
castes . The caste system is based on a power hierarchy due to which some castes that are the
upper castes managed to flourish in the Indian society and led a rich life with a respectable
social position but the lower castes always suffered from the dominance of the rich . It is the
upper caste who always had access to education and as result had access to political power .
Lower castes didn’t have access to education , were subject to various forms of discriminations
especially the untouchables , didn’t have a respectable position in society . This is one of the
reasons for the coming of caste into politics . Though after independence , leaders wanted India
to be casteless and tried to keep caste away from politics but their own actions were
contradicting this goal . Eventually caste entered into politics with a new energy and now it is so
entangled that it is difficult to separate the two that is caste and politics .

According to ​‘Rajni kothari’ modernisation introduced institutional changes within the Indian
society and in order for the changes to be stable and legitimate, requires dialogue between the
old and new elements introduced . A fusion of elements have to be created and both the sides
should be flexible and accommodative . Modernisers in Indian wanted its politics to be
casteless with the aim of abolishing the caste system altogether but no social system goes
away like this .These are the modernisers who want politics in India to be completely away from
caste . Caste identities and structures are the social fabric of Indian society and these people
want politics to be based on something which doesn’t have any foundation in the Indian society .
Therefore what is required is the fusion of the elements of caste system upon which the Indian
society is largely based and modernised . Caste system has that capacity to adapt to the
changes .

Indian politics is mass based politics and it involves manipulation of the system in order to
mobilise people and consolidate power . Where there is mass based politics which means in
order to gain political position you need support from the masses and that articulation of support
has to be made through organisations where the masses are found . In India , the masses are
usually centred around caste , hence it provides principle organisational support to gain mass
support . The caste system lost its moral authority after independence which threatened the
position of upper caste because it could lead to assertions from the lower caste who were kept
away from politics and power . But intra factional rivalry within the Congress system for position
required gaining mass support by the masses . Therefore the leaders mobilised the caste
groups (because as said above that the Indian society is centre’s around it) for their power and
thus gave caste group opportunity for asserting their identity and to strive for position.

Politicians are changing the forms of caste that is how and in what form it should be used in the
current political context which will be beneficial for them to gain support and mobilise people .
Caste is a strong mobilisational force and what makes it this is three aspects of it according to
‘Rajni Kothari’.
1. SECULAR ASPECT- What makes caste a secular organisation - (1) ​governmental
aspect - caste operating as a form of governance which means it is effective in
governing people .for eg. caste councils , caste panchayats etc . (2) political aspect -
caste defines what kinds of status alignment you will get in the society , your caste
becomes your political identity and tells how you can play an important role in politics ,
how influential you can be .
2. INTEGRATIVE ASPECT- caste gives identity to individuals so that the individual can be
recognised by the society and can be integrated into that . Once you get a recognition
you can easily be identified as a public figure and hence can become a part of public
activity .
3. ASPECT OF CONSCIOUSNESS - Caste changes with respect to territory , economic
and occupational terms. Caste has always been a pragmatic assertion because it is
changing according to context and time . It is quite flexible and has tension management
capabilities which enables people to live according to the demand of the situation .

Therefore the secular , integrative and ideological aspects of caste have provided a background
for receiving the modernist impact and responding to them without great disruption or
withdrawal or hostility .The impact of modernisation slowly penetrated the Indian society and in
a positive manner. Modernity provided economic opportunity , administrative patronage and
positions of power to the caste groups of Indian society. People can negotiate and bargain with
the leadership for economic benefits , political positions and administrative patronage .In return
these groups provided the leadership with support in the form of mobilisation.Therefore caste
always has a source of organising public activity as the caste system made it available to the
leadership , structural and ideological bases for political mobilisation . It forced the leadership to
agree to the demand of the local group in order to get support .New processes of change with
respect to modernity included within it the power structure of the caste system , distribution of
economic benefit and caste consciousness.

People who follow empirical models of caste believe that their caste is an instrument to gain
power and it simply reproduces patterns of social dominance without affecting the prevailing or
changing structure of the society . people with this view think that once they control the people
through mass mobilisation they will forever control them but they don’t realise that mobilisation
gives agency to the people , they realise that they are important and hence can negotiate with
the party . That is what happened in the case of the rise of lower castes people to politics . By
politically mobilising the lower caste for votes and support made them realise their importance
and hence they could negotiate their demands with those in power in exchange of support .

The struggle for power was initially limited to the entrenched caste . Only limited individuals
have access to new educational opportunities therefore to leadership and governmental
patronage . This group of individuals were mainly from higher caste and were united by
common social and intellectual endowment and not through political mobilisation . However as it
was limited to a certain higher caste people other other caste started feeling deprived,
vulnerable and hostile especially when they were earlier enjoyed social or economic power as
they were a part of that entrenched caste . Therefore this led to the emergence of an ascending
caste .This binary formation was followed by fragmentation of the entrenched and ascending
caste leading to the formation of factions . The inter-caste competition was now followed by
intra-caste competition . These factions started structuring another political organisation and in
order to consolidate themselves they needed the support of other castes, so they started
mobilising lower castes .

● With the coming of more diversified and mass oriented politics there was need for new
types of managerial and organisational skills and wide support base articulation. The
new leadership was not modern enough , less educated , more rural based and
operated through populist and traditional ideas . But they possessed the ability to
organise , to take risk , to show pragmatic evaluation of things and utilised modern
means of technology and organisation .

● Mobilization of Castes by Political Parties:

How do political parties mobilise caste support?

Andre Beteille has discussed on the basis of his study of castes in Tamil Nadu in 1970’s.
The problem of low caste enters into politics.

He describes the different ways in which caste enters into political process.

In this connection he refers to three ways:

(i) By making appeals to caste loyalties in a general way like exhorting vanniyas to vote
for vannlyas.

(ii) By articulating caste interests in a organised manner.

(iii) By activising networks on interpersonal relations both dun elections and at other
times for mobilizing support along caste lines.

● The consequences as a whole:

(a) Caste is no more regarded as the only base of politics.

(b) Caste is used as a tool of political mobilization or articulation.

(c) Caste has decisive influence on political system.

(d) Simultaneously caste also has a new strength to form n new integration.

(e) Caste has the power to accommodate many groups and it acts as a cohesive
element which absorbs tension and frustration.

(f) Emergence of a new elite structure in which the leaders are drawn from varied caste
groups.

(g) Sharing of common secular outlook.

(h) Emergence of caste associations and institutions like caste club, caste conference
etc.

(i) Emergence of caste federation composed of many castes having specific interests
such as fighting to get reservation facility.

Therefore, in conclusion we find a new type of integration and the whole process is
described as secularization of the social system.