Essay on “Regionalism in Politics” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Regionalism in Politics

The political scenario of India, with the creation of many regional parties has taken a dangerous tinge. We were having only two or three political factions at the time of Independence.

However, during the middle of the nineties, we had more than 150 political parties, most of them on a regional or a local scale. The multiple numbers of parties does indicate the proliferation of democracy. But it creates chaos and confusion in the political events at the Central or State levels.

That “two is a company and three is a crowd” has been rightly said. The USA has two political parties—Democrats and Republicans. The world saw the creation of another political party in the USA during the recent years. But Democrats and Republicans ruled the roost in that country for more than 200 years. They would continue to do so in the years to come. The lesser number of political parties has never hurt the democratic values in the USA; in fact, the democratic values have been protected in the USA to the maximum extent.

The voters, administration and political system of the nation are able to use the bi-party systems for maximum social, political and economic benefits for the masses. The USA has been able to deliver justice to her citizens as the number of political parties is adequate for its needs.

But what about India? Do we hold the opinion that more the number of parties, stronger would be the democracy in our vast nation? Not necessarily so. It is said earlier that two is a company and we also know that there is a crowd. We have more than 150 political factions in India. How could we achieve political coherence and national stability if we were to have such a large political canvass spread across the nation? Let us analyze.

There is no denying the fact that development of regional dowers is going to improve the condition of masses economically, socially and politically. The Indian subcontinent is vast and diverse in terms of customs and traditions. The development of regional groups and ideologies is a welcome move, as it would take adequate care of the interests of the local people. Every political party would certainly like to grind its own-axe. However, in this process these parties would deliver at least some benefits to their voters. All political parties had to deliver some results to seek votes. Therefore, the common man got at least some benefit of the total benefits value offered by the regional political parties.

The rise of the UPA was possible only due to the support of regional parties like RJD, DMK, JMM and the Left Front. The UPA government led by the Congress is dancing to the tunes of its allies. The RJD-JMM component of the UPA is an important part of the government (in the Center). Despite the fact that some ministers  belonging to these parties, have criminal records. Dr. Manmohan Singh did not take any decision to drop them from the Union Cabinet unless they are convicted. Such is the power of regional parties that they have started dominating the Parliament and Union Cabinet to get themselves heard or to make themselves more domineering. Very often the central government has to face some serious problems from one or the other regional party in this age of coalition government where regional parties are in a better negotiating position which they try to exploit.

The political base of one regional party is eroded by the emergence of another regional party. Petty political interests do not allow these small players to unite. These parties also do not join a national party. They remain the essential parts of coalitions. For example, the Samata Party, which was a major component of the NDA, did not join the BJP to become its part. This party does not have national presence.

If it were keen to join the BJP (i.e. to become a part of it) the base of BJP could have extended. However, this did not happen. The same fact is also true for other small components of the NDA.

Generally the coalition is an odd mixture of diverse parties. When the interests of different parties clash sometimes taking a worse turn that results in breaking away from the coalition. Thus, they are cut into size and dominance and remain confined to the regional politics. They fail to emerge as a national party. Why can’t the NDA ’emerge as a single party on the national political scenario of India? If ideologies and aspirations of these components match, why should these components not create a unique political party? Similarly, the UPA is also a heterogeneous mixture of many parties.

Former Prime Minister asserted recently that the NDA must be kept alive as a single force. After the debacle of the NDA in the center, his statement has become more meaningful for BJP and NDA. There is no doubt, regionsalism is hell-bent upon breaking up the NDA.

It can be suggested that the number of political parties be reduced in terms of quantity, but they must be upgraded in terms of quality and output norms. Major political parties should not be more than five in number. A political party which does not have the support of at least two crore voters, should not be accepted as a political party. The performances of all the political parties must be reviewed by neutral observers and it should be made public so that people could know about the actual results delivered by the political parties. Regionalism is a hag for our political system. Our economy and society would suffer on account of multi-party system. Democracy does not mean multiplicity. It means coherence through a limited number of political ideologies.