Question

How do state or regional political parties contribute in strengthening federalism and democracy in India? Explain with examples.

Answer 1

Hint:
A 'Regional' or 'State' party is termed the parties that predominantly operate within a state or region and their impact is restricted within the borders of that specified geographical region. Such parties respond to the needs of the communities living in that specific area and pursue local politics.

Complete solution:
State or regional parties contribute to strengthening India's federalism and democracy as:

- There are also many political issues in a state that a national government cannot address alone. There have to be political bodies for this.

- These greatly lower the national government's workload and also help people speak their mind, especially oppressed minorities and females.

- Regional and state parties also maintain the power and ensure that no resources are inappropriately exploited by the national government. That makes the country even more democratic and provides strong federalism.

The number and intensity of these parties have developed over the last three decades. These have made the Parliament of India more and more diverse politically. In the present political environment, no national party can win a victory in the Lok Sabha by itself. State major leaders come forward to stand united with the nation in such situations, leading to the establishment of alliances.

Note:
At the onset of the COALITION GOVERNMENTS era, there was indeed a Centre since the1990's. Since no mainstream candidate in the Lok Sabha had a strong majority, the major national parties had to make alliances in the Centre with several parties, including most of the regional parties, to form an alliance. This pattern was endorsed by a major Supreme Court judgment that made it nearly impossible for the central government to effectively dismiss state governments. Thus, today, the exchange of federal authority is more productive than it was in the early years since the Constitution came into force.