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Comment by vsr_pg | Hacker News Reader

I take no position on the broader issue of the article, but I was shocked to see that Isaac Chotiner (a repeat India-related article writer at New Yorker) failed to mention that Narendra Modi is an OBC in the context of describing the BJP's caste base. Truly, an egregious oversight and one that misleads readers.

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I reread that piece but fail to see why you think it misleads readers, given the focus of the article?

What do OBC and BJP stand for?

OBC: "Other backward class" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Backward_Class

BJP: Bharatiya Janata Party, which is the right wing Hindu nationalist party that is in power in India (of which Modi is a part of) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party

OBC - Other Backward Class [1]

BJP - Bharatiya Janata Party (the current ruling political party of India)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Backward_Class

OBC stands for "Other backward classes". It is a caste classification created by the Indian government based on certain criteria of people who are economically/educationally backward but who do not fall under the main backward class group (Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes - SC/ST).

He also says

> “The right-wing Hindu movement in India has historically not been associated with people from underprivileged castes, and those people have generally been less supportive of the movement“

My understanding is that BJP has come to power under an OBC wave, both in UP in 2022, and in the North 2019.

Both your quote and your response can be true, depending on "historically". For example in the US -- the rust belt used to be solidly democratic. Politics & groups can frequently realign.

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