INTRODUCTION:

1. Background:

Class struggle and polarization is not a new phenomenon in India. However, with the progress of Indian classes specially dalits and deprived sections the class consciousness has changed, however there are no vital evidences that it has reduced or increased. It is sometimes thought that the study of class structure revolves strictly around positions, whereas the analysis of class formation and class struggle centers on people, on the actual practices of real individuals confronting the world. This is not an adequate way of drawing the distinction. Both analyses revolve around people, but viewed from different vantage points.

The analysis of class structures views individuals as incumbents of relationally defined positions-or, to say the same thing: analyzes individuals in terms of their relational interactions generated by their ownership and control over productive resources. The analysis of class formation views individuals as participants in collective actions oriented around the interests generated by class relations. One of the central objectives of class analysis, then, is to understand is how individuals-as-incumbents in positions are organized, disorganized and reorganized into individuals-as-participants in struggle. This is the process of class formation.

1.1 Issues in Class formation:

When we talk about the cast and class the basically two problems occur, of course, connected: how you explain participation of individuals in collective action contributes to explaining the types of collective action that are possible and the conditions under which different possibilities are likely to occur. But also, the theory of strategic possibilities of different kinds of collective formation may also help explain important features of the process of mobilization. When we return to the problem of class formation in a month or so we will look primarily at the first of these issues–the problem of solidarity and individual participation in collective action. Here we will focus on the form of class formation, in particular at the problem of what is called class compromise.

1.2 Demographic Factors and Cast Class identities among Dalits:

It has been found from studies and experiences that dalits experience the problems related to gender exploitation of their labor, and economic deprivation as their poor non-SC/ST sisters do, but Dalit women additionally suffer from caste-and untouchability-based discrimination. It is this ‘exclusion-induced deprivation’ that differentiates Dalit women’s problem from those of other women, and it also makes their problems more intense and complicated than those faced by other women. For Dalit women the genesis of this exclusion-induced deprivation lies in the fact that they are considered to be impure, polluting, untouchable, unapproachable, and ‘unseeable’; in other words, not fit for social and physical association with others (Sabharwal and Sonalkar, 2015). This has enormous implications on the human right and human dignity of Dalit women. Demographic factors can play a very important for formation of cast-class identities among dalits. A large number of studies have been done on the demographic factors. The hardships of Dalit women arenot simply due to their poverty, economical status, or lack of education, but are adirect result of the severe exploitation and suppression by the upper classes, which is legitimized by Hindu religious scriptures (ThindandAgarwal).

Similarly, education, age and income factors have also awakened dalits to give importance to their class identities. According to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes, the majority of the educated people are of the upper caste, many of which may practice caste-based discrimination. Therefore, Dalit girls feeldiscouraged to enter education and we see the lowest literacy rate for Dalit girlscompared to the Total population of educated upper caste girls (NationalCommission n.pag). The Annual Report of University Grant Commision for 1999-2000, shows that Dalits in general have very low participation rates in highereducation (Annual Reports of University).

2. LITERATURE REVIEW:

Sabharwal and there is a slow rate of improvement in the human development indicators for Dalit women as compared to for the rest of the population (i.e., Dalit men and non-Dalit men and women); Dalit women’s role in production is the most laborious and under the most unfavourable terms of employment-their economic participation is in daily wage labour occupations; there is evidence of discrimination in the workplace and in accessing reproductive health services due to customary notions of their being from a ‘low-caste’ social status as well as the notion of purity and pollution; Dalit women face caste atrocities and violence; temple prostitution with religious sanctions impinge Dalit women’s rights of freedom, and Dalit women lack control over their bodies and their sexuality.

Huber (2014)found that the strategies that parties use in appealing to ethnic groups in efforts to create diverse electoral coalitions are likely constrained by how economic well-being and group identity are related, as are the policies that winning parties can use to retain the confidence of electoral coalitions that put them into power.Iyer (2015) identified that not only dalits but the cast class and polarization is also prevalent in case of religious sentiments also. Religious riots have claimed more than 14,000 lives in India since 1950. An instrument was proposed by the author that draws upon the random variation in the day of the week that important Hindu festivals fall on in each year, as set by a lunar calendar. The probability of a riot increases if a Hindu festival falls on a Friday, the holy day for Muslims. This allows us to isolate the causal effect of riots on electoral results. Pankaj (2007) explored that changes in income also affect the class; hefocused instead on a definition that seems more defensible in the context of developing countries. Someone is identified as being in the developing world’s middle class if she lives in a household with consumption per capita between $2 and $13 a day at 2005 purchasing power parity. The lower bound is the median poverty line of developing countries while the upper bound is based on the US poverty line. In 1990, about one person in three in the developing world was middle class by this definition; by 2005 the proportion had risen to one-in two. An extra 1.2 billion people joined the middle class over 1990-2005. Lama (2009) connected the problem of cast class to political system and concluded that elections are a complex, multi-dimensional social and political event, which can be captured only through a variety of methods: this literature review underlines how the different approaches complete each other and are therefore equally necessary. Indian voters, anthropological studies strive to overcome the limitations of fieldwork based on a single, limited area.

Mahey (nd) found that many of the Dalit NGO’s are involved in establishing schools, scholarships, and basic supplements to Dalits in the rural parts of India. NGO’ssuch as the Ambedkar Centre for Peace and Justice and the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights are involved in bringing the plight of the Dalit people to theattention of the international community and to document and publicize humanrights abuse. The longterm objectives are to enfranchise Dalits as full citizens oftheir society and eliminate caste-based discriminations. Rao (2007)found that the caste system, which categorizes Hindus into endogamous and stratified social groups, is considered to be the organizing institution of Indian society. It is widely thought to have stayed stable for hundreds if not thousands of years-so deeply resistant to change that it has been blamed for everything from (formerly) anemic “Hindu” rates of growth, to persistent “inequality traps.” This paper uses a natural experiment-the 1956 reorganization of Indian states along linguistic lines–to demonstrate that the number and nomenclature of castes has significantly changed in linguistically matched villages (i.e. “mistakes” in the reorganization) at the borders of these states. This shows that the caste system is not stable but a pliable institution-endogenous to political change.Mukta (1995) concluded that a central plank of this Hindu nationalism is to rewrite the history of the Indian subcontinent (and the histories of all those who fall within the ambit of 'the Hindu community') in order to mould these within a political movement dedicated to the restitution of perceived wrongs done to this religious group.

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

There are mainly two objectives of this research paper:

1. To find out the relationship among cast class formation with political orientation and polarization.

2. To find out the impact of demographic variables such as age, gender, income and marital status and education on the relationship of class formation with political orientation and polarization.

Hypothesis of the study:

· Ho There is no impact of demographic variables such as age, gender, income and marital status and education on the relationship of class formation with political orientation and polarization.

· Ha There is a significant impact of demographic variables such as age, gender, income and marital status and education on the relationship of class formation with political orientation and polarization.

4. RESEARCH DESIGN:

The research design can be exploratory, descriptive or experimental. For the studies in social sciences that have enough literature and variables that have already been identified, follow a descriptive research design. Hence, the present study is descriptive in nature and tries to find out the association of class formation and political orientation and the difference between the two relationships with the help demographic variables. The primary data has been collected from 330 men and women from the Firozabad tehsil. The respondents were approached with judgment sampling wherein only those respondents were taken into consideration who have voted in the any one election in the last three elections. The statistical tool correlation has been applied to analyze the data and find the results of the study.

5. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS:

Demographic Profile of the Respondents:

Table 1 Demographic Profile of the Respondents

	Categories	Respondents	Respondents %
Gender	Male	215	65.15
	Female	115	34.85
	Total	330	100.00
Age	18-25	98	29.70
	25-40	150	45.45
	Above 40	82	24.85
	Total	330	100.00
Income	below 1 lack per year	105	31.82
	1 to 3 lack per year	147	44.55
	Above 3 lack per year	78	23.64
	Total	330	100.00
Marital Status	Married	223	67.58
	Unmarried	107	32.42
	Total	330	100.00
Education	Intermediate school	97	29.39
	Graduate	142	43.03
	Post graduate and above	91	27.58
	Total	330	100

Table 1 shows the demographic profile of the respondents. There are 65% around male respondents and 35% female respondents. The maximum representation is from the age group of 25-40 followed by around 30% from the age group of 18-25. Rest 25% is from the age group of above 40. 45% of the respondents have an income of 1 to 3 lacks per year followed by 32% who have income of below 1 lack per year and lastly 34% have income of above 3 lack per year. Out of the total respondents around 68% are married and 32% are unmarried. Similarly, 43% are Graduate, 29% are intermediate and 28% are post graduate and above.

5.2 Relationship between cast class formation with political orientation and polarization

One of the major objectives of this study is to establish the relationship between cast class formation and political orientation/ polarization. Table 2 shows the correlation values of various such relationships.

5.3 Impact of Demographic variables on correlation between cast class formation and Political Orientation and Polarization

	Demographic Variable	a*x	b*x	c*x	a*y	b*y	c*y	a*z	b*z	c*z
		0.281	0.516	0.437	0.240	0.699	0.397	0.207	0.725	0.448
Gender	Male	0.180	0.301	0.358	0.197	0.522	0.347	0.199	0.647	0.408
	Female	0.382	0.731	0.516	0.283	0.876	0.447	0.215	0.803	0.488
Age	18 - 25	0.341	0.879	0.557	0.282	0.941	0.468	0.192	0.839	0.507
	25- 40	0.291	0.532	0.465	0.257	0.840	0.410	0.246	0.736	0.448
	Above 40	0.555	0.634	0.485	0.311	0.782	0.442	0.231	0.799	0.490
Income	< 1 lack p.a.	0.270	0.510	0.448	0.286	0.658	0.402	0.210	0.705	0.442
	1 to 3 lack p.a.	0.287	0.523	0.451	0.246	0.704	0.384	0.209	0.718	0.453
	>3 lack p.a.	0.284	0.516	0.425	0.214	0.717	0.401	0.205	0.739	0.449
Marital Status	Married	0.274	0.521	0.441	0.252	0.703	0.431	0.210	0.753	0.452
	Unmarried	0.288	0.511	0.433	0.228	0.695	0.363	0.204	0.697	0.444
Education	Intermediate school	0.321	0.556	0.477	0.28	0.739	0.437	0.247	0.765	0.488
	Graduate	0.272	0.501	0.417	0.245	0.704	0.405	0.211	0.730	0.435
	Post graduate and above	0.297	0.529	0.447	0.263	0.722	0.421	0.229	0.748	0.462

Table 2 shows the correlation between cast class formation and Political Orientation Polarization. It has been found from the table 2 that the component that I firmly believe in voting to candidate of my cast class only has highly significant correlation with all the parameters of Cast Class Formation. Similarly, I consider polarization good if it addresses issues of my cast class also has the highly significant correlation with all the parameters of Cast Class Formation.

However, I firmly believe in voting a person who address my cast-class problems has a significant level of correlation with the cast class formation factors but the at 5% significance level.

It was found from the table 2 thatthose women have more polarization and class cast consciousness as compared to men. More educated people have been found less polarized towards the candidate of their own class. People with a higher age have a high cast class consciousness. However, no significant difference was found on the basis of income and marital status. Here the null hypotheses are rejected for 3 aspects and accepted for 2 aspects of demographic variables. The results have been discussed further in the conclusion section.

6. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION:

The present study focuses on one of the most important aspects of class formation which is impact of demographic variables. The study first checks whether there is any relationship between cast class formation and voters’ political orientation and polarization. It was found from the study that all the aspects of cast class formation are highly connected with the aspects of polarization and political orientation. The most important aspect found in case of voting to candidate of own cast class only the correlation values are the strongest. In the case of considering polarization good if it addresses issues of my cast class the correlation values are also very strong. However, for the third aspect of polarization the correlation values are little weak.

In the next section of the study it has been found that the demographic variables namely Gender, age and educational qualifications have significant impact on the relationship between cast class formation and polarization and political orientation of the voters from dalit community. However, the other two aspects of demographics have no impact on the relationship between cast class formation and polarization and political orientation of the voters.

7. REFERENCES:

1. Huber, J., D., and Suryanarayan, P. 2014 “Ethnic inequality and the ethnification of political parties: Evidence from India”, Pp. 1-37

2. Islam, K., M., B., et al., “Emerging trends in Minority Political Parties and Politics in India: A quest for Political Space by Muslims in India” , Pp. 1- 20

3. Iyer, S., and Shrivastava, A., 2015, “Religious Riots and Electoral Politics in India”, IZA Discussion Paper No. 9522, Pp. 1- 20

4. Lama S., Tawa 2009, “Studying Elections in India: Scientific and Political Debates”,South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal, Pp. 1- 14

5. Mukta, P., 1995, “The Politics of Religious Nationalism and New Indian Historiography: Lessons for the Indian Diaspora” Ethnic Relations No.23, Pp. 1- 31

6. Pankaj, A., K., 2007, “Engaging With Discourse On Caste, Class And Politics In India”,South Asia Research,Pp. 1- 31

7. Thind, G. S. Our Indian Sub-Continent Heritage. Crosstown Press, LTD. British Columbia, Canada

8. Rao, V., 2007, “The Political Construction of Caste in South India “, Pp. 1- 44

9. Mahey, S., (nd), “The Status of Dalit Women in India’s Caste Based System, Pp. 149-154.

10. Sabharwal, N., and Sonalkar, W. (2015), “Dalit Women in India: At the Crossroads of Gender, Class, and Caste, Global Justice: Theory Practice Rhetoric, Volume 8, Pp. 44-73.

Received on 21.02.2019 Modified on 15.02.2019

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2019; 10(1): 207-211.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5828.2019.00036.6

Cast Class formation		Political Orientation / Polarization
		I firmly believe in voting a person who address my cast-class problems (a)	I firmly believe in voting to candidate of my cast class only (b)	I consider polarization good if it addresses issues of my cast class (c)
1	I consider my cast class as deprived section of the society (x)	0.281*	0.516**	0.437*
2	I consider myself to be a strict cast class person (y)	0.240*	0.699**	0.397**
3	Class formation is primary work to be done by communities like I belong to (z)	0.207*	0.725**	0.448**