Building on their insightful work on India s 1998 and 1999 parliamentary elections, distinguished scholars Ramashray Roy and Paul Wallace s current book focuses on the landmark elections of 2004. Thematically divided into two sections, the book focuses on: The national, theoretical, and comparative perspectives on participation of women in the electoral process, caste dynamics, religion, and nationalism, as well as federalism and factionalism State-specific studies of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Orissa, and West Bengal Tribal politics, at a time when the politicization of ethnic identities is being increasingly felt in various parts of India Bringing together contributors from India and abroad, this volume adds to the body of work on electoral politics and social change in India, and will be of interest to students and teachers of political science, journalists, as well as the informed, general reader.