Belonging, Bargaining, and the Ballot: Rethinking Partisan Attachments in India’s East Zone

Partisan identity has increasingly been theorized as a hybrid of expressive social belonging and instrumental evaluation. This qualitative study examines how that hybrid takes shape among young adult voters in Eastern India. Using purposive and convenience sampling, 23 adults with prior Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha voting experience (Bihar = 10; West Bengal = 12; Odisha = 1) participated in 45-minute, semi-structured interviews conducted in Hindi and English. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed via reflexive thematic analysis. Four overarching themes emerged:  Foundations of Partisan Identity family traditions, regional pride, linguistic assertion, religion/faith, and the variable salience of caste; Affective Expressions symbol-anchored loyalty, leader-focused attachments, emotionally valanced reinforcement, “elections as festival,” and symbolic resistance (including NOTA); Evaluative Rationales—performance-driven support, issue-triggered shifts (jobs, inflation, infrastructure), ethical expectations, inclusivity (women and youth), and strategic voting across electoral tiers; and Cues and Triggers local outreach, media and messaging (including WhatsApp), and wave effects under charismatic leadership. Together, the findings depict partisan identity as rooted yet adaptive: early socialization and group meanings scaffold attachment, while assessments of governance and context-specific cues recalibrate preferences. The study contributes an India-specific account of partisanship that integrates expressive identity with retrospective and strategic calculations, clarifies the evolving (not disappearing) role of caste, and illuminates how digital and local campaign ecologies activate identity in situation. Implications include refining theories of affective polarization in multiparty contexts, designing voter information interventions that respect identity while elevating performance signals, and broadening representation to meet voters’ inclusivity aspirations.