 "BJP has an ambitious target")
In mid-2023, economist Sabyasachi Das released a paper “Democratic Backsliding in the World’s Largest Democracy”. This looked for signs of manipulation in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The paper had not been peer-reviewed. It triggered a firestorm, which forced Mr Das’ resignation from his post at Ashoka University. The incident has dire implications for academic freedom but that’s a subject for another day.
Mr Das used statistical methods to examine voting patterns in 59 Lok Sabha constituencies, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won or came second, in close contests defined as a margin of less than 5 per cent of
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