Micro-populism

As part of my dissertation research many summers ago, I lived for a couple of months in a few villages that straddled the borders of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. I was initiated into the political economy of this region by Mr Krishne Gowda of Bathlahalli village, an elderly patron of the region, who lived with his married sons and their families. Armed with a law degree from decades ago and a towel over the armpit (Manor 2004) now, Mr Gowda was the quintessential mover-and-shaker politician. On one post-lunch afternoon in the early days, he asked me what subject I was studying, and I told him “Political Science.” He looked at me, and then, in his earnestness to educate me, he said what I remember as the following:

We also know how to deal with the government. When they come and ask us how many members there are in my household, I decide the answer according to who is asking. If it is the forest official who asks, I will say one household. If it is for rations, I will say multiple households. If it is for elections, I will say three households. If it is for census, I will say one household and so on … it really depends on what the benefit is.