Electoral Politics in Tripura: A Study on the Role of the Scheduled Caste in Electoral Politics

The evolution of the federal parliamentary democracy in India has heralded political participation at alarming scale before that political participation was confined to the small upper section of the society and also the British colonial rulers were not allowed mass participation in political activities. But the scenario has changed after independence, the inception of parliamentary democracy has encourage all the political parties to participate in the electoral politics though the congress party has been remains a dominant political party in the center as well as in the states for three decades due to leading role of the congress in the freedom struggle. Later, the autocratic regime of Mrs. Gandhi in the mid seventies of the twentieth century that has lead an united efforts by the opposition parties to install the first non-congress government at center as well as in many states. The scheduled caste communities also raised their participation in the electoral politics in India from the very beginning of the democratic politics. Dr. B.R Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee and forerunner of dalit movement in India, endorse active participation of the SCs to the electoral politics and urged adequate representation of the SCs in the legislature for furthering their interest. So, the electoral politics has been a boon for the SCs to represent proportionately in the legislature and it also strengthen their voice to rid of from existing deprivation. In addition to this, the SCs have organized several socio-economic and political movements to get due share which was confined by the upper caste sections of the society. Electoral politics in Tripura has its own history since the accession of Tripura state with Indian union. It also carries the struggle story of the SCs and how does the electoral politics empower the SCs from the deprivation.