“Opinion | Between Empowerment & Exploitation: Examining Vote Bank Politics of ‘Useful Infidels’”, News 18, April 9, 2024:
“Indian politicians since the last seven decades after independence have been practising vote bank politics or Muslim appeasement. Vote bank politics, a term used in the political discourse of India, refers to a loyal bloc of voters from a single community who consistently back a certain candidate or political party in democratic elections. This behaviour is often the result of an expectation of benefits, whether real or imagined, from the political party, often at the cost of the other community.
The Indian National Congress (INC) has been known to indulge the Muslim pressure groups time and again, often at the cost of the rights of Muslim women. The Shah Bano landmark Supreme Court of India judgement overturned by the then PM Rajiv Gandhi, under the influence of Muslim politicians, academicians, intellectuals, and pressure groups is a glaring example of this Muslim appeasement.
The term ‘vote bank politics’ was first used by noted Indian sociologist M. N. Srinivas in 1955. Today, it denotes voting based on, among other things, caste, sects, language, and religion and is usually used negatively……”
Read the full article at News18.com
