The two parties jointly won only 15 of the 75 seats they contested, with the BSP bagging 10 and SP five. BSP chief Mayawati has lamented that the SP couldn’t get even its core Yadav supporters to vote for the alliance. But the poll results in Uttar Pradesh make it clear that caste arithmetic alone doesn’t work anymore. The end of caste politics would be a welcome shift in the way our electorate picks its representatives. As for minorities, perhaps Modi’s promise of “sabka vishwaas" (everyone’s trust) will have a similar effect.

Source: Mint June 04, 2019 12:45 UTC