India is the second most populated country.So,it has people having different cultures,languages,religions,traditions etc.As there is said-"Unity in Diversity",we can use it vice versa.India has diversity in political parties also.According to,Election Commision of India,there are more than 1200 parties in our country.Only 6 of them have gained the status of National level party and all the others are Regional parties.Regional parties are blessings for the regions,we can say.These parties are well known with the needs and mind set of people of the regions.Sometimes national parties fail to fulfill those needs and regional ones do that successfuly.So,developement is done there and at the end it helps in the developement of country.We have seen DMK(Dravid Munnetra Kazagham),AIADMK(All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazagham) in Tamilnadu,TDP(Telugu Desham Party) in Andhra,SDF(Sikkim Democratic Front) in Sikkim,AITMC(All India Trinamool Congress) in West Bengal etc. doing so.Thus,we can say that regional parties are blessings for their respective regions !But 'The coin has two sides',these regional parties can be a curse at the same time,too.Some of these parties break votes of national parties in election and then they make alliance at national level to form a government.After that these parties sometime do goondaism for getting ministry or some personal benefits.This time they stop the work of developement,government and make the government unstable.Doing such things,they can't be less than curse....If there is a problem,there is always a solution.There can be that type of set up that out of the 543 seats of Lok Sabha,some should be reserved for regional parties which aren't to be counted to form government.The remaining have the same as current.By this there will be representation of region remains same and we can get rid of those parties who are making the system weak.(Here the regional parties will given importance for the regional issues as before because still their support is needed for allince in the state elections.)Thus,we can make the results of curse less effective !![RAJ]
Good post Raj. But I do not follow the last paragraph. Are you suggesting that some of the 543 seats be reserved for regional parties and that these seats will not form part of the govt or the opposition, i.e have no say in policy? Regarding the fractionalization of Indian politics with local parties, shouldnt part of the blame be shared by the national parties? They have after all not been able to cater to the needs of the people living in these provincial regions. Congress had a strong hold all over India in 1947. TN went DMK/AIDMK way only in the 60s. In due course of time things might still turn around. For eg Karanata used to be Deve Gowda's fief, today there is a BJP led govt there. Andhra similarly has slipped out of TDP's hands and into the congresses, though the Congress has as usual overplayed its card and seems to have made YSR's son Jagan another fief...
ReplyDelete.
Thank you for your feedback.
ReplyDeleteIn your response you have indirectly proven my last para right.
We all know that Congress or BJP make alliances to form government at national level.Then they magnify on the state.As you said Karnataka went to BJP and AP to Congress.Even now in some of NE states national parties r making government.It is nt bad but if the regional parties r given reserve quota,then they can hv their say in Parliament and the rulers hv to work because for state elections their support in alliance is needed.
Thank you for your reply, but I still see some issues.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, parliament already has proportional representation. Basically, a more populous region like UP/Bihar sends more MPs to the LS than a Kerala/Jharkhand. By giving regional parties further representation, you could start the creation of regional satraps.
This could paralyse decision making. The national parties would have to take these people along for every bill that is passed. The regional parties will not give their vote for free unless they directly benefit, they will want their pound of flesh- be it money or other favours. Corruption could increase and the concept of greater national interest may be lost.
Given that India is currently a Republic (I think referred to as Union by the SC), such power to satraps, and given India's relatively federal other structures, will result in India being viewed more as a confederation. I think this is a slippery slope, as there are enough external forces looking to break up India, and IMHO, defacto confederation status will make that easier for divide and rule.
If the regional parties, who already have an advantage of being closer to the ground vs national parties cannot compete, they really must be screwing up big time.
Again, who do we define as regional and who as national? Something like BSP has a pretty significant say if it controls UP, while the CPI without Bengal is hardly worth calling a national party...
My rambling not withstanding, you have raised some very interesting possibilities. The sort of out of the box thing that I find very intriguing. However, I am still not 100% sure about the consequences this would have...
There are some requirements by Election Commision of India to be a national party e.g.-The party must have 4% of its state representation in Parliamen from 4 or more states...
ReplyDeleteAt now there are 6 national parties-
Indian National Congress,BJP,NCP,BSP,CPI(M) and CPI.