India, April 14 -- Over the last decade, election campaigns in India have undergone a dramatic shift. Political parties increasingly rely on political consulting firms, tech-savvy volunteers, pollsters, data-driven insights, and online battles to mobilise voters. But, what exactly is driving these changes in the landscape of electioneering?

Scholar Amogh Dhar Sharma explored this and other related questions on a recent episode of Grand Tamasha, a weekly podcast on Indian politics and policy co-produced by HT and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Sharma, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the department of international development at the University of Oxford, spoke with host Milan Vaishnav about his new book, The Backstage...