Should There Be Another Regional Party To Fight TRS? – Prof K Nageshwar

Former MP, Konda Vishweshwar Reddy who recently left Congress, mooted an idea of a new regional party to counter the TRS. Such an opinion is often heard in the political circles ever since TRS assumed power. More recently such an opinion is increasingly voiced with a decline of congress in the state. Several leaders left the party and congress continues to witness electoral reverses. The MLC elections saw the grand old party relegated to the fourth and fifth position with independents performing better in both the graduate seats.

The idea of a new regional party to resist the TRS juggernaut received a temporary jolt due to BJP’s surge. The saffron party’s remarkable performance in Dubbak and GHMC polls gave credence to the BJP’s claims of emerging as an alternative to TRS in 2023. But the sudden reversal suffered by BJP in the MLC elections has once again brought to fore the idea of yet another regional force to counter the ruling regional party. The BJP not only lost its sitting seat to TRS in Hyderabad but was pushed to the fourth position in Nalgonda. This means a substantial erosion as compared to the party’s performance in the 2015 MLC elections.

The BJP’s poor show gave strength to the argument that the national parties often failed to present themselves as a credible alternative to a regional party well entrenched in the state. The advocates of this argument cite Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to buttress their views.

In the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, more than 90 percent of the votes are split among the two regional parties, with Congress and BJP decimated with polling even less than NOTA. Jana Sena fared better than BJP and Congress in the general election in 2019 and even in local body polls recently.

An analysis of the last six assembly elections in Tamil Nadu reveals that 75 to 80 percent of the vote is divided between two Dravidian parties. The situation is unlikely to change even in 2021 assembly elections.

But, there are also examples of national parties on their own or with the support of regional allies taking on the regional parties. The BJP challenges the Trinamool supremacy in West Bengal. Similarly, the saffron party dislodged Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. In Bihar, the BJP could upset RJD’s applecart with the help of its regional ally. The congress in Punjab could defeat Akali Dal- BJP combine.

Experiments like Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) proved to be a damp squib. Sharmila is testing Telangana waters, though her regional identity is being questioned. Yet, the talk of a new regional party continues to gain currency as national parties failed to halt TRS electoral success. The victory of TRS in Nagarjunasagar will further give traction to the idea of a new regional party to counter TRS.

-By Prof K Nageshwar

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