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Throughout the 1990s, identities constructed around ‘Hindutva’, ‘Mandal’ and ‘Dalit’ drove mass politics in Uttar Pradesh as political parties mobilized and divided the electorate along the lines of social cleavages. The collapse of the Congress party led to a fragmented multi-party system with narrower identity-based parties, new strategies of mobilization and sharp contests in electoral politics resulting in political instability and coalition governments. Simultaneously, UP has also experienced since the early 1990s a steep deterioration in its economic growth rate and fiscal health leading to a severe financial crisis. The analysis of the twin developments of political transformation and economic reform in the wake of liberalization policies, and their role in refashioning the political process in the state has importance beyond UP in understanding the new political system with its strengths and weaknesses emerging in the country.
The essays in this volume explore theoretically and with reference to empirical data, the interlinkages between identities based on caste and community, democratic politics, the process of development, economic reform and governance in UP since the late 1980s. Such a framework enables an analysis of the multifaceted crisis that has gripped the state and is responsible for the downward slide that it has experienced over the last decade. ISBN--- 9788131707975
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