Understanding Obstacles to Dalit Mobilization and Political Assertion during the 2017 Punjab Elections.

With the highest density of Scheduled Caste population in India, Punjab provides a political conundrum as far as Dalit assertion in state assembly elections is concerned. Introduction to this paper analyses the centrality of identity politics that have come to occupy discourses on Indian democracy. The paper then proceeds with a historical exploration of the peculiar nature of caste in Punjab, which provides the context to analyze the absence of political assertion of Dalits. The third part scrutinizes the internal cleavages within the SC population and how these have hindered cultural assertion translating into a political force. Despite sub-caste divisions, Dalits as a whole remain a crucial vote bank in Punjab and a critical analysis of mobilization strategies of political parties, including deras, rallies, electoral promises and religious-cultural tools, provides us with an insight into how the vote bank operates. The outcome of 2017 Punjab election demonstrate and reflect certain trends as far as the Punjab electorate in general, and Dalits in particular are concerned. The concluding section provides a comparative analysis of political participation and representation of Dalits in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab and evaluates prospects for an 'upsurge from below' in Punjab. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]