Democracy in Focus: Assembly Elections 2026

The Centre for Public Policy Research is organizing a discussion on  Democracy in Focus: Assembly Elections 2026—Issues, People, and Choices with South Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industries (SICCI) Kerala on 28 March 2026, at 3.45 PM at the Grand Hotel, Kochi.

Details of the speakers:

Dr. Sandeep Shastri

Vice President, Nitte Education Trust (Bangalore)

A Political Scientist who is also the National Coordinator of the Lokniti network. His research is largely in the field of a) Election Studies, b) Federalism, c) Innovation in Teaching, and d) Survey-based research. He has to his credit 13 Books, more than 60 articles in Edited Books & over 100 articles in refereed Research Journals, besides more than 300 articles in Op Ed pages of newspapers. He is associated with several prestigious international research bodies in the field of social sciences and education. He has been an International Consultant associated with the Forum of Federations for its Federal Democracy Capacity Building Programme in Sudan, South Sudan and Myanmar. He is on the Executive Committee of two important Research Committees of the International Political Science Association connected to the study of Electoral Systems and Governance. Dr Shastri played a key role in drafting the Karnataka Youth Policy by serving as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Policy. Dr Shastri has lectured extensively across the world and spoken at Universities in more than 30 countries on all six inhabited continents.

Prof (Dr) G Gopa Kumar

Former Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod

Advisor, Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR)

A leading political scientist and psephologist, he specialises in the areas of International Relations, Comparative Politics and Indian Politics. He has published 12 books and over 145 research articles. He was earlier Dean of Social Sciences and Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Kerala, UGC-Emeritus Fellow, ICSSR Senior Fellow, and has more than forty-one years of teaching experience in Political Science at the University level. He had also served as the Director General of the Institute of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Kerala, and as Director, V.K. Krishna Menon Study Centre for International Relations. Dr Gopa Kumar has received numerous international and national awards and fellowships like Visiting Research Fellow, University of New South Wales, Australia; Australian Studies Senior Fellow; Salzburg Fellow, Austria; UGC-Indo-French Cultural Exchange Award; Fulbright Fellowship, USA (1998 & 2002); Shastri Mobility Fellowship (2017) and visited the University of Calgary, Canada to study on “Canadian Contribution in Internationalizing Higher Education in the era of Globalization”. He was also Visiting Faculty at Claremont Graduate University, USA and University of Calgary, Canada. Dr Gopa Kumar is also a reputed political commentator on television news and a newspaper columnist, where his objective and scientific political analysis is highly valued. He also serves as an advisor to CPPR.

A few snapshots from the event!