Role of Regional Political Parties in India

Several regional political parties emerged in India primarily due to the presence of socio-economic, religious and cultural pluralism. At the grassroots level, the regional parties make the people politically conscious and it makes popular participation more extensive and wide. After 1996, several regional parties have emerged and these are now playing key roles in national politics. Their impact on the structure and process of politics has been "multi-directional and far-reaching". They have posed the most powerful challenge to Indian’s "one-party dominant system" or ‘The one-party Plus’ system. Some of the regional parties had/have ruled/are ruling the states. All these reflect the ever growing importance of regional parties in Indian politics. The regional political parties have also helped the emergence of a new thinking which admits a positive role that regional political parties can play in the process of nation building. The present volume, Role of Regional Political Parties in India, consists of 10 articles on different aspects of regional parties, their role, need, programme, causes of growth and rule in different states of India. The contributors to this volume have tried to be objective with the evidence at hand. It has also been their endeavour to provide up-dated facts and the latest developments in the subject.