Ashoka University is in the midst of a controversy after one of its research papers hinted at vote manipulation by the ruling BJP in the 2019 General Elections.
A research paper titled ‘Democratic Backsliding in the World’s Largest Democracy’, written by Assistant Professor of Economics at the university, Sabyasachi Das, is evoking political reactions from several leaders, including Congress MP Sashi Tharoor and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
The university, however, distanced itself from the maelstrom by tweeting that it is “dismayed by the speculation and debated around the recent paper”. It further said, “To the best of our knowledge, the paper in question has not yet completed a critical review process and has not been published in an academic journal. Social media activity or public activism by Ashoka faculty, students or staff in their individual capacity does not reflect the stand of the University.”
Meanwhile, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, who is a programme coordinator at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, slammed the university for its research paper, and alleged that it was the second time that its professors had put out “bogus research” in one year.
Another Twitter user goes on to decode the research paper and points out the flaws in it. “BJP will be in a position to do it only in states where they are part of the ruling alliance. So, if, indeed, the victories were due to manipulation, one would see the higher strike rate being restricted to the NDA-ruled states. The author, in fact, even makes that claim. However, for the complicated statistical jugglery exhibited throughout the paper, it gets this basic fact wrong. This pattern of outperformance is not limited to NDA-ruled states. Out of the 41 seats the BJP won, nearly half are from non-NDA states.”
I have read the full report now and I am truly amazed at the level of torture of data done to arrive at a preset conclusion. Let me first summarize the claim of the paper:A) BJP won 41/58 LS seats in 2019 where the margin of victory was <5%. The normal expectation wld be that https://t.co/JSCspuIMf0— Sai (@Saiarav) August 1, 2023
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter and urged the Election Commission and the Government of India to “have answers available to refute these arguments, they should provide them in detail”.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey from Goddha, Jharkhand, however, said, “It is fine to differ with the BJP on matters of policy but this is taking it too far…how can someone in the name of half-baked research discredit India’s vibrant poll process? How can any university allow it? Answers needed — this is not good enough a response.”
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