Articles by Yogendra Yadav

In judging Rammanohar Lohia's ideas, this essay excavates their philosophical foundations and reconstructs his political doctrine in line with these beliefs and his political programme. It examines Lohia's relationship with modernity and the role this played in his thinking, while looking at his analytical tools in terms of his distinctive theory of history and its implications for his understanding of India. It sheds light on his innovative recasting of the doctrine of socialism, the idea of equality, and the political and economic model of a socialist society. After paying close attention to his theory of political action and the contents of his political programme, as well as his limitations, it attempts to determine Lohia's place in the history of ideas in the 20th century and his relevance to our time.

Rammanohar Lohia has been incorrectly portrayed as a Hindiwalla and a Hindi chauvinist. A perusal of his writings on the language subject clearly shatters such a portrayal.

Political choices in a national election increasingly derive from the competitive format, electoral cycle, political agenda, participatory pattern and social cleavages defined in state politics. In this sense, the political choices made at the state level are mostly "principal" and those made at the national level are increasingly "derivative". But state level politics shapes and filters rather than pre-determines the national outcome. Using this framework and the trends in 2004-09, this study attempts to understand the structure of contestation that will shape the final outcome in the coming Lok Sabha elections. The complex pattern of principal outcomes and timing in the political calendar shows that neither of the two major national alliances can sweep the polls nor be swept away in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. In all probability, we are going to witness one more election in which no single party or pre-poll alliance is likely to get a clear majority and one where the smallest of changes in individual states is likely to have a major impact on government formation in New Delhi.

Six months after results were declared, the outcome of the 14th general elections still remains a puzzle, presenting many-sided issues that continue to be much debated. The set of papers in this collection attempts to unearth a clearer meaning behind the mandate of elections 2004 from the questions that each pose. Why did these polls not yield a decisive verdict and a simple mandate like elections of the 1970s and 1980s? Moreover, given that the range of possible outcomes was so narrow and the choices before voters limited, why was the NDA unable to hold on to power and why was the final result such a clear verdict against it? A question of more short-term interest to political actors and election strategists is why did such an unpopular government led by the most popular leader of the moment lose the elections. The papers in this collection use the immense body of data generated by the NES 2004 to make an informed intervention in this contested terrain.