One reason why the Aam Aadmi Party is of such consuming interest to politically engaged desis is that it seems committed to pluralism without making caste and community identities central to its politics.

The Mandalization of Indian politics is a familiar theme and an important stage in the evolution of the republic, but the AAP seems to mark something of a departure from the politics of identity; it doesn't set out, ideologically, to perform India's social diversity.

Mukul Kesavan on why the AAP still matters. Read