And hundreds of millions of people from the nation's lowest caste will be a force to be reckoned with when they head to the polls to vote in the national elections due by May.

數以十億計來自最低階種姓的人們在五月的全國大選中，將會擁有不容小覷的影響力。

This is your Bloomberg QuickTake on Lower Caste Political Power.

以上是關於低階種姓之政治影響力的概述 (註：Bloomberg QuickTake是一個網站，專門提供大眾對於某一議題化繁為簡的資訊）

Hindus, which make up 80 percent of modern India, were traditionally split into four hierarchical groups.

占印度總人口約 80％ 的印度教徒，傳統上被劃分為四個具有階級之分的族群。

The lowest of all, Dalits, now form a quarter of the population, - about 16 percent of all voters.

他們之中階級最低的賤民，占了印度總人口的四分之一 — 大約是所有選民的 16％。

On the ground there is a lot of discomfort, especially amongst the Dalits.

大眾中有許多的不快，尤其是賤民階級的人們。

There is discontent among minorities, and even as far as the Hindu's majority is concerned... the upper caste, or urban people.

不只少數族群有不滿，據印度教的多數人所知，甚至連高階種姓或都市人都會也有不滿。

One hopeful to replace Narendra Modi as prime minister is is Mayawati -- a former Delhi slum native who has been elected chief minister of India's most-populous state of Uttar Pradesh four times.

其中一位極可能取代 Narendra Modi 總理之位的人是 Mayawati —一位四度被選為印度人口最密集的北方邦州首席部長的前貧民窟賤民。

Her party, Bahujan Samaj, vows to end caste discrimination and build a society based on equality and fairness.

她所屬的大眾社會黨承諾終結種姓制度，並建構一個以公平公正為基礎的社會。

She has followers across states in India and even of she wins, say one or two seats in every state, she can be the kingmaker, at worst.

她有來自印度各州的支持者，而就算她只在每個州贏得一兩席，她也能至少成為一位對國家有極大影響力的人。

At best, she could stand a good chance of being the consensus candidate for the other side.

最好的情況是，她很有機會成為兩方一致推選的候選人。

Laws against caste discrimination were adopted seven decades ago.

為消除種姓歧視的相關法規在七年前就已經施行。

And with some exceptions, caste remains a major factor in determining how people earn a living and whom they marry, especially in the small towns and villages where around 70% of Indians live.

但因為一些特例，種姓階級仍是決定人們做什麼工作以及跟誰結婚的一個主要依據，尤其是在 70%的印度人所居住的小鎮與小村落中。

So far, Modi has been a very interesting government, simply because this is the first time in three decades that we'd had a leader come with this kind of majority.

目前為止，莫迪一直是個很有趣的政府，只因為這是很久以來我們首次擁有一位受到如此多數人支持而來的領導者。

Modi rode a wave of dissatisfaction and emphasized his own modest background to take power in 2014.

莫迪在 2014 年透過借助大眾不滿的情緒，並且強調自己平凡的家庭背景取得政權。

But his BJP party has developed a potentially problematic reputation as far as Dalit voters are concerned.

但對賤民階級而言，他所帶領的印度人民黨，已經塑造了一個似乎會有些負面的聲譽。

Narendra Modi's party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has traditionally (and) always been seen as the base of what we called upper-caste people.

莫迪所屬的印度人民黨一直被視為我們所謂高階級種姓族群的大本營。

So basically, (they are) the more privileged, the more land'owning, and of course, business-owning class.

因此基本上，他們就是那群擁有比較多權利、比較多土地，當然，也比較多企業的那個階層。

Despite living in a stratified society where circumstances of birth define a large part of what the future will hold, voters in the world's largest democracy will soon be hitting the polls as equals.

即使生活在一個有階級之分，出生高低對一個人的未來有決定性影響的社會，這些來自世界上人口最多的民主政體的選民們即將以平等的身分進行投票。

Each political party will tailor its message with that in mind.

所有的黨派釋放的訊息都將以此為考量。