The politicians and political commentariat in India heavily emphasize Caste and other identitarian aspects as the building blocks of building a coalition rather than policy.
Political parties field candidates who belong to a particular ethnic community and pander to their sentiments to secure their votes. And the historically disadvantaged communities achieve representation in this manner.
While I agree that Caste is a major issue in the Indian society (with a lot of variance between regions and across social various strata), saying that "backward" castes are denied political representation and agency is extremely dishonest.
That BJP only works for the upper caste is inaccurate. Like every political party in India they pander to communities for votes. Freebies and subsidies for disadvantaged groups like ration and gas is a card they have played in sufficient numbers. Recently they have increased reservations (affirmative action) for Scheduled Castes in Karnataka, I believe. This and their rhetoric are pretty much the building blocks of their campaigns.
You can say it doesn't work in the long term, but only working for upper castes is not what it is.
Our political system enables people of various backgrounds to rise in the ranks of politics regardless of their caste (I have given examples up the thread) or religion (we've had Presidents, Chief Ministers, Governors and Prime Ministers from Hindu, Christian, Sikh or Muslim backgrounds).
The medicine is working. If you are frustrated that it is not working fast enough or the way you expected it to, the reason is far simpler and what every Indian knows about.
When you have many "Backward" caste politicians and leaders with a predominantly "Backward" caste voting base who do not work to improve the status of their communities and instead just want to line their pockets, it should be obvious what the problem is. Rich people ultimately just want to make themselves richer, especially in a system that enables it with rampant corruption. That the Rich person is from a disadvantaged background does not matter. Whatever you may want to call it you cannot explain this away as Upper Caste Hegemony.
Note: I am _not_ saying that casteism, doesn't play a role in Indian society and politics, but it is not one and only explanation for our problems. Repeating this again due to the tendency of many people to explain away every problem in the Indian society with "Is this Casteism?",
If anything, the voting system in India is among the best, most transparent and most accessible in the world and that is really something amazing.
Beyond voting, India is largely an electoral autocracy and their idea of “democracy” is really stretching the definition so you are accurate there.
Are you saying then that the voting is fraudulent? Or that lower caste voters are voting against their interests? Or that there are restrictions on the candidates that are available so voters are only given the illusion of choice? E.g. for lunch we can choose between KFC, Taco Bell or Pizza Hut, but they're all actually the same company.