Bhubaneswar: The results of the recent Haryana Assembly election has sprung a question as to whether the regional parties will survive when national parties—BJP or Congress—become stronger. A glance at the performance of regional parties since 2014 makes it clear that the performance of regional parties—barring the Samajwadi party in Uttar Pradesh or the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal– have not been as impressive as it should be though there is an effort by these parties to survive the onslaught of the national parties.
In the Haryana election Indian National Lok Dal and Jan Nayak Janata Party have virtually been decimated by the BJP. This could be the beginning of the downfall of the regional parties. The only national party Congress began to become weak since 1967 as it bagged fewer seats. In 1969 the party split and the situation was such that the government of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had to seek the support of the Communists to survive. As the national party began to crumble, regional parties sprang up before every election and some of these parties survived for some time while the others perished.
Several of these regional parties were able to form government in different states but not for long. These parties include the Lok Dal, the Swatantra party, Jan Sangh etc. These government’s were purely for temporary gains and could not last. 1967 could well be described as the inflection point as the Congress grew weaker and regional parties became stronger. The electorate in the country, however, chose Congress at the Centre in 1971, 1980, 1984 and 1991. In 1971 it was due to the victory in India-Pakistan war, in 1980 due to the inherent weakness of the Janata Dal formed after the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, 1984 and 1991 due to sympathy wave following assassination of Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi respectively. But by this time several regional parties had strengthened themselves in their respective areas to challenge the Congress.
Coming back to the regional parties it can be said that several of them are on the wane barring two—Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress. Strong regional parties such as the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha, YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh, BRS (formerly known as TRS) in Telengana, Janata Dal (S) in Karnataka, AIADMK in Tamil Nadu have bitten the dust between the 2014 and 2024 period while parties such as the Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra have now been reduced in strength to such as extent that they are the second or third fiddle in State’s electoral politics.
This is because the BJP has risen in strength and has been trying to fill the vaccum created due to the downfall of the Congress. The period between 2014 and 2024 has been testing time for both the BJP and Congress to assert their supremacy. The Haryana election was a battle of titans and the BJP emerged victorius. Further, the regional parties across the states are virtually ‘family-centered’ parties. Whether it is JD(S), YSR Congress or SP. The batons have been passed in the family resulting in losing the confidence of the electorate. Now, the TMC is rumoured to be headed by Abhishek Banerjee—nephew of Mamata Banerjee while the Samajwadi party is headed by Akhilesh Yadav—son of founder of the party Mulayam Singh Yadav. The electorate apparently is not keen on carrying the family legacy in electoral politics and is likely to shun them at an appropriate time.
In Maharashtra both the NCP and Shiv Sena have seen splits and the groups led by the founders are in soft soil and sinking. The Telugu Desham Party of Chandrababu Naidu however, has not only survived the test of time but is back in saddle in Andhra Pradesh. The Biju Janata Dal, which ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades, is also finding itself in deep trouble due to leadership issues. Naveen Patnaik has not handed the baton to anyone to run it while the presence of former bureaucrat-turned politician VK Pandian causes resentment in the party. The question ‘after Naveen who’ haunts the party leaders and cadre.
It is evident after the Haryana election that the electorate has emerged the most powerful and delivered the message that it will decide who would be on the driving seat to steer the State or nation.
