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In the eight episode, I speak to Amit Ahuja, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California Santa Barbara on his recent book - Mobilising the Marginalized: Ethnic Parties without Ethnic Movements published by Oxford University Press in March 2019. In the book, Ahuja shows why only some Dalit parties are successful electorally in India despite having made deep social inroads in several states. Paradoxically, Dalit parties gain political power in states where they have had weak levels of social moblisation and engagement. Drawing on original research conducted across four Indian states, Ahuja shows that, for Dalits, social mobilization undermines the bloc voting their ethnic parties generally rely on for electoral success while increasing multi-ethnic political parties' competition for their votes. The conversation begins by exploring how Ahuja got interested in the topic before delving into his understanding of social and electoral mobilisation. Then we move to discuss the welfare effects of Dalit politics and why Dalits fare better in states where their parties do not govern. The conversation also touches upon the methodologies used by Ahuja and how his book compares to the contributions made by other scholars on caste and ethnic politics in India before ending with some personal reflections on the book.