What is Regionalism and Effect in Indian Polity?

Tendency of people to feel more affinity to their territory, language, culture and social habits is called regionalism. The people living in a state have a negative feeling for the people of the other state. They given more importance to their own territorial region in comparison to other parts of the nation. We mean these feelings when we talk about regionalism. This tendency grows feelings of doing more and receiving more of the interest and development of own region. So, the feeling which accepts that the benefit of own state are supreme and the benefits of the other states of the same country can be ignored is called regionalism. Though it helps in development and growth of a region by its people but on the other hand, it also creates feelings of ignorance or neglecting towards other regions. It can heart all over development of country like India.

As far as the question of the regionalism's effect on Indian polity is concerned at the time of the independence congress was the sole national party which has the faith of most of the people from all over India. Gradually the feeling or regionalism was originated in South India. Protest against Hindi begun on large scale in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka etc. They were inclined to be concerned only about their own states benefits. On these linguistic feelings many regional-parties come on the regional political arena and fueled the feeling of regionalism further. These same feeling influenced the North Indian states also to have their own regional parties and gradually the regional parties in U.P., Bihar, Rajasthan and M.P are became a power to reckon with.

Not only this, as we see India is a country with diversity. Diversities are based on various criteria such as, geographical, historical, cultural is social. The diversities lead to politically different ideologies and give rise to regional political parties to protect and preserve specific interest of a region. In 90s this trend get a tremendous boost. Today's growing importance of regional parties has became a big hurdle in two party politics and stable government. Neither of the two main political party (Congress and BJP) is able to form a government single handedly, either in centre or in the states. As a result, the system of coalition government has started in India which has the demerit of political blackmailing. Allied parties in the government pressurizes the national party to tilt its policies in the interest of any specific regions. Many times it, subsides national interest. It is the gift of regionalism and the regional parties that in 1990s we experienced a restless polity in India.

Apart from these inter-state water disputes, emerging demands of new states and sometimes region specific violent struggle are evils of regionalism. Killing of North Indians in Maharashtra and Assam recently is nothing but a move for political gains. Demand of separatism and autonomy is another aspect of regionalism.

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• Regionalism (Politics): In politics, regionalism is a political ideology that focuses on the interests of a particular region or group of regions, whether traditional or formal (political divisions, administrative divisions, country subdivisions or subnational units).
• List of Political Ideologies

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