Express Elections

In the fifth and final part of our special election series on Uttar Pradesh, we talk about an entirely new class of voters – people who have benefitted from the government’s welfare schemes. For this, Monojit Majumdar, who heads the Indian Express' Explained section, talks to Indian Express’ Harikishan Sharma about who these voters are, and how they could potentially impact these upcoming elections.

Last week in a rally in Unnao, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that a new policy will be introduced to tackle the stray cattle problem after March 10, when the Uttar Pradesh election results will be announced. In the fourth part of our special election series on UP, Indian Express’ Monojit Majumdar is joined by Harish Damodaran to talk about this issue, and the extent to which it actually affects farmers in the state.

Harish Damodaran is Indian Express’ Rural Affairs Editor, and a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).

In the third part of our special election series on Uttar Pradesh, Indian Express’ Monojit Majumdar talks to Chief of Political Bureau Ravish Tiwari about the extent to which long campaigns and freebies influence voters, and what the political parties in the state are trying to highlight in their poll pitches.

What role do caste identities play in the UP elections? And how much do physical rallies and election campaigns help a party? In the second part of our special election series on the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Indian Express’ Monojit Majumdar speaks to Ravish Tiwari, Indian Express’ Chief of Political Bureau about these questions, and more.

In this election season, The Indian Express brings to a special series on the state that perhaps matters the most to the ruling BJP government, and the one that everyone has their eyes on — Uttar Pradesh. In this first episode on Uttar Pradesh, Indian Express’ Monojit Majumdar speaks to Ravish Tiwari, Indian Express’ Chief of Political Bureau about the fundamentals of UP politics.

For the final episode of 'The Youth Vote' series, we talk to former Chief Electoral officers, game developers and community radio hosts, to see what work is being done to increase young voter awareness, promote registration and create an inclusive electoral system.

How many first-time-voters have the BJP and Congress managed to reach out to? What tactics do regional parties use? We detail how parties approach youth outreach differently, take a behind-the-scenes look at popular campaigns, discuss which party has hosted the more successful social media campaign, why not everyone is playing fair and much more.

Why aren't more young people voting? Are they fed up with the system? Are they politically apathetic?

We talk to young voters across the country to see whether their demands from a new government goes beyond the unemployment vs national security debate. Featuring interviews with psephologists like Sanjay Kumar (Directors, CSDS) the popular political Youtube personality Dhruv Rathee, this episode dives into anxieties of the youn that don't make headlines.

The youth vote is significant but not in the way that you might think.