India is a very cultured area of the world, but one of the most unique things about India is its caste system. Although the caste system is not as heavily influential as it once was, the Indian population is still divided into many areas based on which caste a person belongs to.

What is the Caste System?

A caste in India is the equivalent of your status or class in other parts of the world. This is decided at birth based on the caste of your family. This means that you can be born into a particular caste without having any influence on your circumstances.

This doesn’t differ much from the idea of being born into a poor family or a rich family in other parts of the world; however, it does differ in that you can not change your caste in India. If you are born into a poor family in another part of the world, you may be able to change your status based on hard work or good fortune. In India, your caste classification remains with you.

How Does Caste Affect Politics in India?

You can find plenty of India editorials discussing the politics of various castes in the country, but by and large, a caste will generally have a favored political allegiance. Once again, this does not differ too much from other countries where certain ethnic, cultural, or regional groups tend to support certain parties, ideologies and candidates consistently. Click here for more information about India editorials.

The difference in India is that political leadership often selects candidates based on how a caste is likely to vote. Even if a caste supports a particular political ideology or party, they may not be willing to vote for a candidate if the candidate is not a member of the caste, despite sharing the same views.

This is why political parties spend a lot of time on India editorials in news outlets to shape their candidates’ positioning to appeal to specific castes. Once again, this isn't all that much different from politics in other countries, but caste is an additional factor that must be considered for politicians in India.

Read a similar article about Indian op eds here at this page.