India votes

de Harold A. Gould, Sumit Ganguly

Within a scant eighteen-month span, India held two national elections. The first, in November 1989, witnessed the political demise of Rajiv Ghandi and the precipitous decline of his Congress Party. The second, in May 1991, witnessed his assassination at the hands of Tamil Tiger extremists just as the Congress Party seemed poised on the threshold of a mild resurgence. Both Rajiv Gandhi's tragic fate and the fortunes of the Congress Party reflect the disruption of one of the most stable political systems in the Third World. After enduring for nearly forty years, India's centrist consensus appears gravely beset by factionalism in all quarters: Sikh separatism in the Punjab, Muslim insurgency in Kashmir, militant nativism in Assam, and nationwide caste conflict. In this book, senior scholars and seasoned observers of India contribute a broad range of regional and topical perspectives on the "binary" Ninth and Tenth General Elections. Collectively, their analyses provide a timely and informed portrait of a nation in search of a new consensus to restore its deeply divided political culture.