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Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia

Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia

Promoting research, teaching and public engagement on key issues of modern South Asia in an interdisciplinary framework and in a historically and culturally grounded manner.

Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia

Promoting research, teaching and public engagement on key issues of modern South Asia in an interdisciplinary framework and in a historically and culturally grounded manner.

In The News

ThePrint

ASHUTOSH VARSHNEY: The Modi paradox in 2026. Complete political domination alongside worsening economic slide

June 2, 2026
The realm that is the intersection of politics and economics is encountering a weighty paradox in India. The Modi government is exercising mastery over the
political domain, but the problems of the Indian economy are growing worse. The chasm between increasing political domination and deepening economic frailties may not be bridgeable without serious reform.
Read Article
ThePrint

Ashutosh Varshney: BJP’ s wins in Assam & Bengal s how competitive authoritarianism is knocking on India’s door

May 19, 2026
It has been nearly two years since the 2024 national elections. How should we conceptualise the state of Indian politics today? Are there any significant reasons for concern?
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The Telegraph Online

Yamini Aiyar: Ways of seeing

May 8, 2026
Did the SIR with its deletions and active disenfranchisement of over 27 lakh voters propel the BJP to power in West Bengal? This is the question that is dominating the political debate
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Hindustan Times

Yamini Aiyar: Delimitation, with a new federal compact in mind

May 8, 2026
The defeat of the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament affords an opportunity to wrest the delimitation debate from narrow partisan concerns and open a wider conversation on India’s federal bargain.
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ThePrint

ASHUTOSH VARSHNEY: BJP’s West Bengal win doesn’t mean 2029 Lok Sabha election is in the bag

May 5, 2026
What is the larger significance of India’s recent state elections? It is important to avoid easy generalisations, however tempting such generalisations may be. The BJP’s victory in West Bengal, undoubtedly hugely significant, does not imply that the 2029 Lok Sabha elections already have a foregone conclusion.
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ThePrint

ASHUTOSH VARSHNEY: Modi govt lost in Parliament, but India won

April 21, 2026
How should we judge the defeat of the Narendra Modi government’s 131st
Constitution Amendment Bill in India’s Parliament? Can we say India has won and
the government has lost? In the political life of a nation, there are moments when
the defeat of an elected government becomes synonymous with the victory of the nation.
This was one such moment.

Click to read the full article
Read Article

Faculty Spotlight

March 6, 2025 News from Saxena

New Publication in the Annual Review of Sociology by Poulami Roychowdhury and Rina Agarwala

The Perils and Promises of Unequal Democracy: Insights from the Sociology of India
January 18, 2024 News from Watson

Hindu Nationalism and the New Jim Crow

Ashutosh Varshney co-authored a paper for the Journal of Democracy titled, "Hindu Nationalism and the New Jim Crow."
July 17, 2023 News from Watson

The Rich Have Peers, the Poor Have Patrons: Engaging the State in a South Indian City

Patrick Heller and Ashutosh Varshney recently co-authored a paper published in the American Journal of Sociology titled "The Rich Have Peers, the Poor Have Patrons: Engaging the State in a South Indian City."

Fellows Spotlight

September 22, 2025 News from Saxena

Democracy in Times of Democratic Erosion: The Case of India

This article draws on evidence gathered from the India Election Survey 2024, a nationally representative post-poll survey of voter perceptions, to deepen understandings of democratic resilience in contexts of democratic erosion.
August 28, 2025 News from Saxena

Yamini Aiyar, Neelanjan Sircar : Crossing Red Lines? The BJP and Democratic Legitimacy in the 2024 Election

This article examines the relationship between democratic legitimacy of political parties and their electoral outcomes, to identify when concerns over democratic process and norms matter to electoral outcomes. In so doing, this paper seeks to contribute to the burgeoning scholarship on the twin dynamics of democratic erosion and resilience in the contemporary moment.
November 6, 2024 News from Saxena

Economics Graduate Student, Saxena Affiliate and PSTC Trainee wins best paper award for NEUDC 2024 at Northeastern University in Boston

Economics Graduate Student, Saxena Affiliate and PSTC Trainee Aarushi Kalra pictured with Rema Hanna, Harvard Kennedy School, and Andrew Weiss of Weiss Asset Management, wins best paper award for NEUDC 2024 at Northeastern University in Boston. Her paper is entitled " Hate in the Time of Algorithms: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment on Online Behavior"

Saxena on Trending Globally

Trending Globally is a regular podcast featuring insight on today's critical global challenges. With Brown University scholars, practitioners, and students, the discussions bridge research, politics, and policy.

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