India, Aug. 22 -- For most of independent India, Brahmins have occupied a peculiar place in our political discourse.

They have become India's favourite sociological punching bag, routinely blamed for every historical injustice, invoked as symbols of privilege and caste oppression and rarely acknowledged as a political constituency worth courting and so everyone punches away at them. But. every five years it stops for a bit. That's when you know it's time for elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP).

As the 2027 UP Assembly elections draw near, something fascinating is happening. Political parties that have spent decades attacking 'Brahmins' are once again rediscovering the political usefulness of Brahmins.

It is one of Indian politics' most end...