Articles

How the BJP Tried to Manipulate Public Opinion on Social Media in Favour of the CAA

Buddhadeb Halder | The Wire | 17th Dec 2020

Those behind the #IndiaSupportsCAA campaign, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, pumped huge sums of money online to gather support for the government as anti-CAA protests swept across the country. Social media today has gained significance as a ‘leader’ in leaderless movements. Earlier, newspapers or mouthpieces were used to galvanise public opinion; today, people use social media platforms to get news and information on issues relevant to them. It helps to mobilise the online audience to act offline. Read More

Working Papers

Electoral exclusion of vulnerable populations in India

Mihika Chanchani | Centre for Equity Studies

July 2020

The general election in India is the world’s largest electoral exercise. As of 2018, the Election Commission reported that close to 900 million voters are eligible to vote. Let that number sink in. Every 5 years, a whopping 900 million people are eligible to participate in the democratic process. However, mere eligibility to vote does not translate into the ability to vote for a large section of vulnerable populations. Up to 15% of the total electorate of around 130 million adult citizens is missing from the electoral rolls. Some studies suggested a disproportionate exclusion of Muslims among marginalised groups but although the conclusions were not incontrovertible, these pointed to the possibility of exclusion of otherwise disadvantaged groups, socially, economically, politically and culturally.