(a) Elucidate the prominent trends in voting behaviour in contemporary India, and discuss how astroturfing affects the scenario. (20 marks)

(b) Highlight any five constitutional provisions that restrain the powers of the executive, and evaluate thei

Question

(a) Elucidate the prominent trends in voting behaviour in contemporary India, and discuss how astroturfing affects the scenario. (20 marks)

(b) Highlight any five constitutional provisions that restrain the powers of the executive, and evaluate their effectiveness in current times. (15 marks)

(c) Map the different types of ethnic conflicts that have emerged in 21st century India. (15 marks)

UPSC Answer Check · Accepted Answer

(a) Voting behaviour and astroturfing
Contemporary Indian voting behaviour is characterised by a complex interplay of social, economic, and technological shifts. Lokniti-CSDS National Election Studies (NES) document Yogendra Yadav's "second democratic upsurge" of lower castes and, more recently, the reversal of the gender gap in turnout: 67.18 per cent of women voted against 67.01 per cent of men in 2019, and 65.78 against 65.55 per cent in 2024 (ECI). While Rajni Kothari (1970) and M. N. Srinivas established caste as a mobilisational resource and "vote bank" rather than a mechanical bloc, Christophe Jaffrelot’s "India's Silent Revolution" traces the rise of intermediate castes. Recently, class has re-entered through "new welfarism" or the labharthi (beneficiary) vote, where direct-benefit transfers create identifiable constituencies. Politically, the "presidentialisation" of elections has made leader preference an independent predictor of the vote since 2014. Furthermore, the shift from routine anti-incumbency to performance-based pro-incumbency and the prevalence of split-ticket voting—where voters choose different parties for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha—define the current landscape.

Astroturfing, defined as manufactured, sponsored mobilisation disguised as spontaneous grassroots opinion (a term coined by Lloyd Bentsen), significantly distorts this scenario. Through IT cells, bots, and coordinated inauthentic behaviour, astroturfing creates "echo chambers" and "filter bubbles" that trigger a "bandwagon effect" and Noelle-Neumann’s "spiral of silence." This digital manipulation, often involving deepfakes, bypasses the traditional Model Code of Conduct. While the Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bonds Scheme in Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India (15 February 2024) to protect the voter's right to information under Article 19(1)(a), the legal framework—such as Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951—remains lagging behind the speed of digital astroturfing.

(b) Five constitutional restraints on the executive
The Indian Constitution incorporates several provisions to restrain the powers of the executive, ensuring a balance of power. First, collective responsibility under Articles 75(3) and 164(2) mandates that the Council of Ministers be collectively responsible to the legislature. However, its effectiveness is often diluted by the "whip" under the Tenth Schedule, which forces party discipline and blunts legislators' scrutiny of the executive. Second, financial control via Articles 265, 266, and 110-117 ensures the executive cannot spend without legislative sanction. While the "guillotine" and Departmentally Related Standing Committees (introduced in 1993) provide oversight, the effectiveness is limited by the executive's control over the legislative agenda and the "Money Bill" route, as seen in the Aadhaar case.

Third, judicial review under Articles 13, 32, and 226 is the most potent restraint. Landmark judgments like Kesavananda Bharati (1973), which established the "basic structure" doctrine, and Maneka Gandhi (1978), which required "just, fair and reasonable" procedure, have firmly entrenched judicial review, preventing the executive from arbitrarily violating fundamental rights. Fourth, independent audit by the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) under Articles 148-151 provides post-facto checks. While the CAG is a constitutional authority, its effectiveness is hindered by the delay in tabling reports and the non-implementation of Public Accounts Committee recommendations. Fifth, limits on emergency and ordinances were strengthened by the 44th Amendment (1978). S. R. Bommai (1994) curtailed the misuse of Article 356, and Krishna Kumar Singh (2017) held that re-promulgation of ordinances is unconstitutional. Despite these checks, the executive remains the dominant branch, particularly when a stable majority and the Tenth Schedule coincide.

(c) Types of ethnic conflict in 21st-century India
In 21st-century India, ethnic conflicts have evolved into distinct typologies, often driven by identity, resource, and political marginalisation. The first type is communal conflict, where religious identity intersects with ethnic tension. Examples include the Muzaffarnagar riots (2013) and the Delhi violence (2020), where religious polarisation turned local disputes into large-scale violence. The second type is ethnic conflict in the Northeast, characterised by demands for autonomy and protection of indigenous identity. This includes the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) violence (2012), the Naga Framework Agreement (2015), and the Manipur conflict (2023), a Meitei-Kuki-Zo conflict that erupted on 3 May 2023 after a tribal solidarity march against a Manipur High Court direction on Scheduled Tribe status for the Meiteis, leading to President's Rule in February 2025.

The third type involves inter-State border disputes, where ethnic groups in one state clash with those in a neighbouring state over territorial control, such as the Assam-Mizoram border conflict (2021). The fourth type is resource and tribal conflicts, where ethnic groups resist developmental projects that threaten their land and ecology, exemplified by the protests in Niyamgiri against mining. The fifth type is caste-based ethnicisation, where caste agitations take on an ethnic character, as seen in the Jat, Patidar and Maratha reservation agitations. A sixth type is nativist or linguistic conflict, from the 2008 campaigns against North Indian migrants in Mumbai to the contest over "illegal migrants" around Assam's NRC (final list, 31 August 2019).

Analytically, these conflicts can be understood through the frames of Horowitz (ethnic groups in conflict) and Varshney (inter-communal civic networks as a check on riots). Institutional responses have included the Sixth Schedule, special provisions under Article 371A, and various peace accords. However, the persistence of these conflicts suggests that while the state has managed the "symptoms" through security and political accommodation, the underlying "structural" grievances of identity and economic exclusion remain unresolved.

(a) Elucidate the prominent trends in voting behaviour in contemporary India, and discuss how astroturfing affects the scenario…

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