Paper short abstract:

I propose divine kinship as a central vernacular idiom through which to analyse the complex interplay between citizenship, popular sovereignty and Indian 'patronage democracy'.

Paper long abstract:

Using the political ethnography of the 2009 National Assembly elections in Mathura town in the state of Uttar Pradesh (Northern India), the paper focuses on the implications of being ruled (and patronised) by 'ordinary people' and the ways in which 'ordinary people' are transformed into 'extraordinary people' with royal/divine/democratic qualities. I propose divine kinship as a central vernacular idiom through which to analyse the complex interplay between citizenship, popular sovereignty and Indian 'patronage democracy'. In Uttar Pradesh re-worked caste dharmas and patron caste/community deities are legitimising local ideas of sovereignty which are linked to particular 'castes'/clans'/families' and not to the entire 'Bahujan' (the common folk). Kinship, blood, past glories, and divine heroes and protectors are part of everyday rhetoric invoked by politicians, voters, opponents, and followers to refashion caste-based ideas of distributive justice, distribute material resources, and win elections.