It is true that politics and social divisions should not be allowed to mix. It leads to negative results. We can see this when caste starts influencing politics – (i) Each caste group tries to become bigger by incorporating within it new kinds of neighbouring castes or subcastes which it had excluded earlier. New kinds of caste groups like backward and forward emerge. This is not healthy for democracy and can lead to tensions, conflicts and even violence. It diverts attention from other pressing issues like poverty, development and corruption. (ii) Political parties and candidates in elections make appeals to caste sentiment to minister support. Some political parties are known to favour some castes and are seen as their representatives. This is bad, because it gives the impression that elections are about castes and nothing else. This is far from true.