Votebank
Type of voting block on ethnic or identity lines
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Through Politics of India, Voting and Community
Etymology
The term was first used by noted Indian sociologist, M. N. Srinivas in his 1955 paper entitled The Social System of a Mysore Village. He used it in the context of political influence exerted by a patron over a client. Later, the expression was used by F. G. Bailey, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, San Diego, in his 1959 book Politics and Social Change, to refer to the electoral influence of the caste leader. This is the usage that has since become popular.
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Examples
Some of the first identified votebanks were along caste lines. Others based on other community characteristics, such as religion and language, have also occurred. Votebanks are generally considered undesirable in electoral politics. For example, Thapar (2013) argues that votebanks based on either caste or religion stand in the way of secularisation. Katju (2011) identifies accusations of votebanking as a rhetorical tool used by Hindu nationalists in complaints about special rights or privileges granted to non-Hindus in India. Other examples include:
- In 1989, the Badaga people of South India petitioned the Indian government to be recognized as an official tribe, demonstrating en masse on 15 May of that year to imply the strength of the Badaga votebank.
- In 1985, Rajiv Gandhi acted against Shah Bano judgement under influence of Muslim conservatives.
Remedy
Some argue that the practice of votebank politics can be mitigated by limiting the provisions of Tenth Schedule of Indian Constitution to a few critical issues.