The BJP won the 2019 parliamentary elections in India: but was it ALL fair and square?

This astonishing new working paper by @sabya_economist provides scientific evidence that suggests vote(r) manipulation by BJP.

And no, this is NOT about EVMs.

Thread🧵 https://t.co/YU1idLcqXwpapers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…
@sabya_economist painstakingly combines lots of varied datasets:

Election results from 1977-2019, EVM turnout data for 2019, Voter rolls (including name classifiers), National election surveys, data on counting observers.

Each of these is hard to put together.

See, for ex:

The communal poison has flooded our drawing rooms.

Conversations with mostly doctors in coastal Karnataka over the past week 👇🏽

Doctor 1: Our hospital is next to "mini-Pakistan." Always riots. Every time "those people" get bored, they toss a stone at a bus. What a nightmare. (2)

Doctor 2: 'You're working on local taxation in Karnataka? Why don't you study why the Muslims don't pay taxes?'
Me: 'Don't they?'
Dr: 'There are ten Muslim families in our building. They have been told not to pay taxes.'
Me: 'By whom?'
Dr: 'By their leaders.'

(Contd 👇🏽)

My book 'Last Among Equals: Power, Caste & Politics in Bihar's Villages' is out!

It features scheming politicians & dogged resistance, dashed hopes & persistent idealism, violence & laughter, from 9+ yrs of my fieldwork + data + research

Order here amzn.to/3Eca7cN
🧵⬇️ The book tells a story of village politics in Bihar through narratives centred around insiders -- those who make up village government -- and outsiders -- those who are profoundly affected by the activities of local government.

(Thread)

Imagine, because it is a hop and a jump away from where we stand today, that cricket was run the way our masters run the Indian state.

What if the BCCI commentators spoke of cricket the way many of our news anchors broadcast the daily news? Would a diffident Rahane prod that somehow results in an inside-edged boundary to the fine-leg fence be described as a "trademark Rahane steer, the bat-face closing at the last instant to guide the ball past his own stumps"?

1. Was Bradman really bowled by a googly in his last knock?

Many cricket lovers know these 3 facts:
(a) Bradman needed 4 runs from his last innings to finish with a test batting career average of 100
(b) He was out for zero
(c) He was bowled by an Eric Hollies googly 2. Like everyone else, I unquestioningly accepted this as the truth. Until, I chanced upon this video on YouTube put out by the Bradman Museum (@BradmanBowral):

Thread:

Here's one reading of the development story of Bihar in the recent Nitish years, told through the lens of local government and politics.

We begin (see image) with Mr Kamal Manjhi of Darbhanga, an elected rural ward member: blogs.worldbank.org/impactevaluati…

See link for more: (2) The story has 3 elements:

(a) Decentralization
(b) Development Projects
(c) Responsive Government

More below: