The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) in West Bengal, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu and the CPI(M) in Kerala have long been among the most prominent regional forces in Indian politics. But the latest Assembly election results point to a clear shift in Indian politics. TheAITC has been oustedfrom power in West Bengal after 15 years, while the DMK has suffered an unexpected defeat in Tamil Nadu.
The DMK's Tamil Nadu Campaign was framed around linguistic and identity politics by Chief Minister MK Stalin but the results clearly showed that anti-incumbency sentiment outweighed that message. His defeat in his own constituency was proof of that. While therise of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam(TVK) shows that new regional forces can still emerge, the overall pattern appears to favour larger, national parties.
The Left parties have also seen a major decline over the years with the CPI(M) being reduced to just governing Kerala. However, itsdefeat thereby the Congress-led United Democratic Front marks another setback.
The weakening of regional players has been visible over several election cycles. The Aam Aadmi Party, which has been recently hit by defection of seven of its Rajya Sabha MPs to the BJP, has also lost its weight since losing the Delhi Assembly Elections. Currently, it is only confined to Punjab.
Odisha has a similar story where the Biju Janata Dal, led by Naveen Patnaik, lost power in 2024 after 24 years in office, defeated by the BJP. However, some exceptions remain. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, led by Hemant Soren, remains in power in Jharkhand, while the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, headed by Omar Abdullah, continues to hold power in Jammu and Kashmir.
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, the BJP has expanded its footprint exponentially, especially in the Hindi heartland. Following the party's growth, a number of regional parties have either weakened or broken up, like the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party, Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party. Some of these parties have also alligned with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance to remain in power and influence in their regions.
Although the regional parties remain influential in South India, there, too, they have been facing resistance. In Telangana, the Congress defeated the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in 2023, despite the party's role in the state's formation.
The recent assembly elections thus show a changing political structure in the country where regional parties are increasingly struggling to keep up with the forces of national parties.
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Rounak is a journalist with over 7 years of experience covering geopolitical and international affairs. He has a keen interest in research and explain...View More
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