All those in a hurry to write off the importance of caste, and not just in everyday life, must take a detailed look at the election results. It is true that many ‘caste-warriors’ (‘Caste in a new mould’, May 18) have suffered a huge loss in seats — Lalu Prasad’s RJD is a good example. And Lalu will be lucky to get even a C-grade ministry in the new government, since his only bargaining chip will be his party’s Rajya Sabha presence. But the BSP’s vote share in Uttar Pradesh has gone up from 24.6 per cent to 27.4 per cent. Even if the SP’s share has fallen, it is still 23.3 per cent, giving these two parties a vote-share of over 50 per cent in UP. So how can you say caste is dead? It is assumed that a decline or a rise in seats also means vote-shares have fallen. This is incorrect since in a multi-cornered contest it requires just a one or a two per cent change to result in a huge swing.
Uma Tripathi, New Delhi
