Regional players eye bigger national role

NEW DELHI : A trip from Kanyakumari to Gangtok will take a person through only states ruled by regional powerhouses -and that could well end up being a significant factor in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

India’s regional parties head governments in 13 states and have 40% of the seats in the current Lok Sabha, and after years of playing the supporting role for the two big parties—the BJP and the Congress—some regional satraps have set their sights higher in 2019.

“Regional parties have excelled in the last Lok Sabha poll and they will do so in this election too. The BJP and the Congress’ rush to form coalitions with the state-based parties show that the regional parties will play a crucial role in mustering the numbers to form the government,” said BJD’s Lok Sabha floor leader Bhartruhari Mahtab.

The biggest move towards a non-Congress and non-BJP axis by regional parties has happened in Lucknow; Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) has aligned with erstwhile rival Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Yadav brings with him the Yadav and Muslim support base; Mayawati’s core constituency is Dalits. The BJP currently has 68 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The allies could still make space for the Congress, but the fact that they have left it out of their calculations is a definite expression of intent.

Expectedly, most of the action concerning regional parties is happening in southern India where the BJP has an insignificant presence in three of the four states, and the Congress too is dependant on local parties. Arch rivals Janta Dal (Secular) and the Congress tied up last year to form the government in Karnataka. They have agreed to partner in the Lok Sabha elections too. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu will fight against rival Congress in the polls but is ready to form a government with it, if the situation requires, to keep the BJP out.

Naidu and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee are among the regional leaders that have tried (and are trying) to create a front. Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao is a third such.

“The country needs a people’s government, a United India government,” Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said on Friday, underlining her intent to get parties from different parts of the country to form a non-BJP government at the Centre. However, analysts say Banerjee herself is unlikely to opt for a pre-poll alliance in her state. Nor will Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik of the BJD, they add.

The reason is simple. Both BJD in Odisha and Trinamool Congress in West Bengal want to maximize their seats to strengthen their hand in case no party emerges with a clear majority after the polls.

Other regional leaders have thrown in their lot with either of the two main national parties.

In Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra, the Congress and the BJP have both found local partners.

In Tamil Nadu, for instance, the MK Stalin-led DMK, which had an acrimonious falling out with the Congress in 2013 has struck a pre-poll alliance with the same party. it’s rival the AIADMK has chosen to go with the BJP.

Interestingly, the CPI(M), which is left with just one government in Kerala, has overcome the strong resistance of its southern lobby to seek a deal with the Congress in West Bengal.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, “To ensure the maximum pooling of anti-BJP votes, electoral tactics are being worked out at the state level. In states where the direct contest is between the Congress and BJP, the CPI(M) will contest one or two seats and campaign generally for the defeat of the BJP.”

So, as the dates are announced for India’s 17th Lok Sabha elections, regional parties have positioned themselves in three different categories: some are in pre-poll alliance with the BJP, some with the Congress and quite a few have shunned alliance to keep their options open. But with the same goals: to gain more relevance, more power and more authority in the national polity.

ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE POSITIONED THEMSELVES IN DIFFERENT CATEGORIES, THE REGIONAL PARTIES SHARE THE SAME GOALS: TO GAIN MORE RELEVANCE, MORE POWER AND MORE AUTHORITY IN THE NATIONAL POLITY