India's Regional Parties May Be 'Overstated': U.S. Think Tank

Washington: Although regional parties have fundamentally transformed India's electoral politics, but they may not be the juggernauts they are made out to be, an eminent American think tank has said.

"The emergence of regional parties as major centres of power in India's politics, economics, and society is one of the most important developments in the country's post-independence history," Milan Vaishnav from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in an article on the rise and influence of regional parties in India.

"And come the general election in 2014, regional parties will play a pivotal role in helping to influence the formation of the next union government. It is even possible that India's next general elections will produce a "third front" government headed by the leader of a regional party," he wrote.

"Yet, the regional revolution in contemporary Indian politics should not be overstated. India's regional parties have indeed already risen; whether they can rise further is unclear," Vaishnav said.

Negating several myths about regional parties in India, the U.S. think tank said a common myth about regional parties is that their rise, by definition, has eroded and continues to erode the stature of national parties.

"But in reality, after a period of unprecedented growth in the standing of regional parties during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the pattern of electoral competition at the national level has achieved a surprisingly stable balance of power," the article said.

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