How far is it correct that the regional parties have strengthened Indian democracy and federal system? Substantiate your answer with suitable examples. (UPSC CSE Mains 2022 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
Regional political parties play a major role in strengthening federalism in a democratic country like India.
Strengthening Democracy
- Regional parties take regional issues to the national stage and find a solution.
- They have different agendas and hence the Parliament of India is diverse.
- They form an alliance with the National party and thus help in the formation of the Coalition Government if such a situation arises.
- Many social groups and communities represent their demands through regional parties.
- They assist the Union Government in solving local issues thus sharing the burden.
- The Regional parties check the National Government in the execution of its power thereby strengthening federalism and democracy.
Strengthening Federalism
- The need for a truly decentralized federal polity has been a constant demand of the states in the post- 1967 period. The changing nature of the party system and the growing importance of regional parties have federalized the working of Indian democracy to a large extent. In mid 1970s, sub-regional cultures started at the state level. It was difficult for Congress to take care of all provinces and their local issues, as different issues of local nature had begun to raise their heads. For the common masses, their local leaders were very closer to them than the national leaders, and their local leaders were more concerned with local issues than the national.
- The regional leaders and local leaders came forward to assert their regional issues and play the game of regional politics, and to build a close relationship between state and society for the people‟s welfare. The growth of regional parties, must, therefore be seen as mainly the out-come of over-centralization by national leaders and government. The regional parties have been grown in strength in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Maharastra, Sikkim, Punjab, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and other states of the Union. Their distinguished feature is their cultural regional identity, their linguistic opposition to in most of the non Hindi states, political commitment to greater regional autonomy and focus on state- specific or regional specific.
- The new role of regional parties has transformed Indian federalism beyond recognition. Once those states were dominated by the Union, became asserted themselves against the super-power of Union Government. They started to bargain with Union government for their state interest. For example, the two Dravidian state parties DMK and AIADMK are alternatively made alliances with the two all-India national parties, Congress and BJP and every time they are extracting some price in the form of project or larger grants for the State.
- The Prime Minster is no more as powerful as they used to be under One- party dominant system. The President and the Governors are no more rubber stamps endorsing the dictates of the ruling party; rather they are conscious of their constitutional roles. The new role of regional parties has transformed Indian federalism significantly. Since 1990s have seen the emergence of the state as the epic-Centre of Indian Politics. The regional parties came to play major roles at the national level and also the key players in coalition government. This kind of change in political parties in India, reflect the drastic change in politics of federalism, shifting from dominant federalism to cooperative Federalism.
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