A major political shift is underway as caste-based mobilisation gives way to a broader identity narrative, redefining electoral strategy and democratic discourse in India.
By SIDHARTH MISHRA
New Delhi, May 5, 2026 — The results of the just concluded assembly polls once again underlined the fact that the Indian politics is undergoing a decisive shift of the very grammar of mobilisation. What we are witnessing is the steady eclipse of Mandal (caste-based politics) by Kamandal (Hindutva-driven identity), with the latter increasingly outmaneuvering and absorbing the former.
For decades after the implementation of the Mandal Commission, caste arithmetic was seen as the master key to electoral success. Political formations—from the Hindi heartland to the deep South—rose and stabilised on finely calibrated caste coalitions. That paradigm has now frayed beyond doubts.
The electoral churn across four states and one union territory, which went to polls, signals that caste identities, while not irrelevant, are no longer determinative. They are being subsumed within a broader, more emotionally resonant Hindu political identity.
Nowhere is this more striking than in West Bengal. A state that once prided itself on linguistic pride, sub-nationalism, and ideological distinctiveness has witnessed a dramatic realignment. The BJP’s rise here is not just an electoral feat; it is a conceptual breakthrough. It has demonstrated that even deeply embedded regional and caste equations can be disrupted if a larger civilisational identity is successfully mobilised. Traditional determinants like language, region, caste loyalties and even the charisma of a figure like Mamata Banerjee have been overridden by a reconstituted Hindu consciousness.
This is the core of Kamandal’s advantage. It does not deny caste, but it relativises it. By reframing political grievances like economic distress, corruption or local disenchantment through the prism of Hindu-Muslim polarisation, it creates a unifying axis that dilutes internal social cleavages. In effect, Mandal’s fragmentary logic is countered by Kamandal’s aggregative appeal.
Three elements make this shift durable. First, the sheer organisational will and persistence of the BJP leadership, particularly the Modi–Shah combine, which has shown an ability to penetrate even the most hostile terrains. Second, the recognition that identities are not fixed; they can be politically reconstructed. The BJP has invested heavily in recoding social consciousness, turning religious identity into the primary axis of political behaviour. Third, the strategic use of institutions and narratives to reinforce legitimacy, whether through claims of electoral probity or the projection of strong governance, has helped convert even friction points into mobilisation tools.
The developments in Tamil Nadu further underline this transformation. The success of Vijay’s TVK in breaking the DMK–AIADMK duopoly suggests that even entrenched regional and caste-driven political ecosystems are vulnerable. While not explicitly Hindutva-driven, this churn reflects a broader restlessness that weakens older identity anchors, creating openings that a pan-Indian narrative like Hindutva can eventually occupy. The lesson is clear that regional pride and caste alignments are no longer sufficient shields against ideological reconfiguration.
Meanwhile, the Congress and other Mandal-era parties appear intellectually and organisationally exhausted. Their continued reliance on backward-looking caste coalitions and regional calculations seems increasingly inadequate against a political project that seeks to transcend these very categories. In many regions, the vacuum left by their decline is being filled not by alternative social justice platforms, but by the expansion of Hindutva.
This moment, therefore, is not just an electoral phase; it is part of a deeper ideological contest over India’s identity, one that has roots going back to the 19th century starting incidentally with Bengal Renaissance. The assumption that regional or caste identities could permanently counterbalance a pan-Hindu consolidation now appears misplaced. Kamandal politics has shown a capacity to appropriate, override, or dissolve these identities into a broader cultural hierarchy.
The implications are profound. As Hindutva becomes the dominant idiom, the space for dissenting identities and plural narratives may shrink. Mandal politics, for all its limitations, at least foregrounded social justice and representation. Its decline raises questions about what replaces that vocabulary in India’s democratic discourse. For now, Kamandal has clearly outsmarted Mandal by shifting the battlefield itself. Instead of playing the arithmetic of caste, it has rewritten the algebra of identity. Whether this new equilibrium proves stable or reveals deeper fissures will determine the next chapter of Indian democracy.
(This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author’s own.)
Modi at 75 Isn’t Slowing Down — BJP’s Surge Signals 2029 Play
Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn
