With the establishment of a new dominant party in India since 2014 and its re-election with a thumping majority in 2019, a new political era has been identified with the BJP being called a ‘system defining party’. A lot has been written about the changing political climate of the country with the Bhartiya Janata Party as the dominant party in order to analyse the reasons for the BJP wave sweeping across the nation. The State-level dynamics are quite different though and they must be studied separately for a better understanding of India’s overall political situation.
The volume under review is an empirically rich collection of essays which investigates the electoral and political developments in the States of India, considering the dynamic political trends within the country. The 2019 Lok Sabha electoral verdicts have been assessed from the unique prism of the States of India, supported by the survey data and analysis by Lokniti-CSDS (Centre for the Study of Developing Societies) National Election Study 2019 (NES). It is crucial to understand the political developments at the State and regional level for a comprehensive understanding of the 2019 verdict, and a State-by-State analysis brings forward the trends that have solidified and become more visible since 2014.