CPR-TCPD (TRIVEDI CENTRE FOR POLITICAL DATA, ASHOKA UNIVERSITY) DIALOGUES ON INDIAN POLITICS
ELECTION STUDIES POLITICS

Watch the full video (above) of the third discussion in the series on the broad contours of the research agenda for 2019 elections, featuring Ashutosh Varshney, Pradeep Chhibber, Vandita Mishra, and Aditi Phadnis.

The run up to the general elections in 2019 have already generated heated political debate. As political activity gains momentum, researchers and observers of Indian politics face the formidable task of interpreting and analysing the implications of these activities both on the immediate elections as well as on democratic practice in the long term. In these polarised times, when debates on politics have become increasingly partisan, building a research agenda to understand the elections becomes even more critical.

Ashutosh Varshney is Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Brown University. Pradeep Chhibber is Professor and Indo-American Community Chair in India Studies and Director of the Institute of International Studies at UC Berkeley. Vandita Mishra is National Opinion Editor at the Indian Express. Aditi Phadnis is Political Editor at Business Standard.

The question and answer session that followed can be accessed here

About the CPR-TCPD Dialogues

This was the third event in the CPR-TCPD Dialogues on Indian Politics series, launched in a partnership between Centre for Policy Research and Trivedi Centre for Political Data (TPCD) at Ashoka University. This is a monthly event that brings together academicians, policy and political practitioners, and civil society actors to grapple with important social and political issues in India. It provides a forum for intellectually rigorous, non-partisan commentary to strengthen public discourse on politics in India. In these polarised times, debates on politics in India have tended to be increasingly noisy, blurring the lines between critical engagement and partisan endorsement. This dialogue series is an effort to carve out a space for critical, nuanced engagement to understand the changing dynamics of Indian political parties, the impact of new and emerging social movements and the use of new instruments of mobilisation in our polity.