Miscellaneous
The forthcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh are crucial for the current incumbent Yogi Adityanath and his party, the BJP. The communal temperature has risen quite a bit in the last few years, and especially so in the last few months. Recently, new tensions were added after 8 people, including 4 farmers, died after a car, allegedly driven by the Union Minister's son, ploughed into them. Opposition parties, especially the Congress, have condemned the incident and are sure to focus on it during the campaign. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav have been drawing big crowds wherever they have travelled. How will all this play out? Will it have an impact on the results and will polarisation between Hindus and others be the main plank of the Adityanath campaign?On this episode, Sidharth is joined by Professor Gilles Verniers, who is the Assistant Professor of Political Science at Ashoka University and Co-Director of the Trivedi Centre for Political Data. Apart from teaching, Prof. Verniers researches Indian political processes, identity politics and the intersections between gender and politics in India.Sidharth and Prof. Verniers talk about the Professor's observations from his years of researches into politics in UP, especially in the months running upto elections, and tons more. Tune in for an eye opening episode.Follow Prof. Verniers on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillesverniersFollow Sidharth Bhatia on Twitter and Instagram @bombaywallahbombaywallah and https://instagram.com/bombaywallahYou can listen to this show on The Wire's website, the IVM Podcasts website, app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.