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These are just some of the many snippets of new India, that follow no convention, is experimental, is perhaps not well versed with English and therefore contemptuous to the associated markers (liberalism and whatever it stands for, perhaps), consumes a lot of internet data, and is searching for a new identity.
Is this the new India that is enamoured with Narendra Modi? Is this the reason why the PM never misses an opportunity to berate ‘Lutyens’ intellectuals’ and ‘Khan Market liberals’?
His party’s election manifesto then had talked about identifying the potential beneficiaries belonging to this group, so that targeted welfare schemes could be launched.
Analysing NSSO data, social scientists Sandhya Krishnan and Neeraj Hatekar observe that “from 2004-05 to 2011-12, we witnessed an astonishing change in the class composition in India… The new middle class, which accounted for less than 30 percent of the population earlier, rose to over 50 percent. In absolute size, the new middle class almost doubled, from 304 million in 2004-05 to 604 million in 2011-12.”
“The middle-middle and upper-middle classes also expanded, from a mere five percent of the population in 2004-05 to 13 percent in 2011-12. But interestingly, the bulk of the expansion in the new middle class in this period was led by the lower middle class, which constituted three-fourths of the total new middle class population. Also, unlike the earlier period, both rural and urban areas witnessed an increase in the share of the new middle class and reduction of the poor,” they added.
What this research indicates is that the lower middle class constitutes nearly 37 percent of the country’s population, a jump of 15 percentage points in eight years beginning 2004-05.
A stable price regime in the last five years, as opposed to elevated levels of inflation during the UPA years, would have come as a welcome relief for them.
It is reasonable to assume that Modi regime’s targeted schemes like the Mudra Yojana (PMMY) with an average loan size of nearly Rs 20,000, Ujjwala, overdraft facilities with Jan Dhan accounts, health insurance scheme, the promised insurance scheme for unorganised sector workers and the promise of raising the income tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh would have helped the lower middle class the most.
Is that the reason why there is growing convergence in voting behaviour of lower middle class despite divergent caste affiliations?
An analysis of the 2019 verdict shows precisely that. Here are some of the pointers:
Modi’s focus on new middle class, with targeted sops, seems to have rendered the traditional caste-politics association irrelevant, marking an end of the politics of social justice variety. All these data points suggest as much.
Since this marks the beginning of a new phase in Indian politics, the broad contours of things to come look hazy.
Will this transition prove to be a smooth one? A large section would say: ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai.’
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
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