Ms
RITU
Net/Jrf
qualified , M.A. degree in Political Sci. , M.ED Degree
ABSTRACT India is a federal
country where all the powers have been distributed between central government
and state governments. When India got independence on 15th August 1947,
state election were not that much unpredictable as Congress was the only ruling
party in both centre and state. But after 1967 general election congress started
losing majority in states, it was clearly the result of emergence of regional
political parties. Due to the increasing number of regional parties state
legislative assembly elections are considered a matter of much political
interest and thrill because it is uncertain to predict which political party
will come out as a ruling party after elections and whether the winning party
would be able to complete its term of five year. In this research study we will
try to understand the state elections, political changes and political events
which occur in a dramatically changeable manner during last one year. This
political year certainly has been one of turbulence, but not necessarily one of
advancement or progress for state politics. KEYWORDS :- Federal government , Defection
, Majority, Campaigning
INTRODUCTION :-
The state elections are crucial at
national level because each state send a proportional number of representatives to the Upper house of the parliament .The beginning of election
season is a good occasion to note the rise of state politics to the centre
stage of Indian politics . If a political party wants full control over government,
it must secure majority in the both houses of parliament. So political parties
tries every bit to win that full majority in centre and state assemblies. Alliances between parties may dramatically
alter an election’s outcome and constitute an unpredictable and changeable
feature of the Indian politics. Parties may agree to not to contest elections
in return for a similar undertaking from their alliance partner with respect to
a subsequent poll, or the relationship may be more complex with parties in an
alliance allocating constituencies to one another in some parts of a state,
while competing against one another in other constituencies in the same state .The
growth of state parties, picked up particularly after 1967 when the hold of the
National Congress Party began to weaken. The rise of strong regional parties in
states such as Tamil Nadu and the increasing popularity of smaller parties
contest assembly elections at the state and even constituency level makes state
politics more dramatic and unpredictable. The increase in media penetration ,
arrival of social media have led
politician to something in form of dramatic , bold , shocking and in interesting way , create a debate and grab headlines . These
headlines and media coverage are nothing less than a political boon for
political parties, because it helps them in election campaign. We will study the recent political events of
four states , Uttar Pradesh , Arunachal
Pradesh , Bihar , Tamil Nadu to understand how the
state politics in India have become dramatic and how these regional political leader sometimes
neglect the political and economic interests of the region or even the state
just to remain in power .
Arunachal Pradesh: - This state has undergone major political unrest since April
2015 when congress expelled Kalikho Pul from the post of action Chief Minister.
The state senior minister Kalikho Pul broke away from Congress government of
Nabam Tuki with 24 MLAs to form PPA government. His government was removed after
a Supreme Court verdict reinstated Tuki. Dejected Pul committed suicide in Itanagar in August.
Nabam Tuki was elected as the new CM but on July
16th 2016 he resigns ,
a few hours ahead of the much – anticipated floor test because most of the Congress MLAs were backing
Pema Khandu . Khandu, has been elected
as the chief of the Congress Legislative Party and became the chief minister on
17th July 2016. But the politics of Arunachala Pradesh came in to
focus again when Pema Khandu quits Congress along with 43 party MLAs, and join People‘s
Party of Arunachal Pradesh (PPA) in September . Mr. Khandu’s predecessor is the only MLA who
chose to stay with the Congress. Pema Khandu and six other MLAs suspended for
anti - party activities but coalition partner BJP which has 13 MLAs in the 60 –
member assembly, decided to support Khandu. Political uncertainty dominated the
state and some sudden and fast – changing events have been recorded in the hill
state
Tamil Nadu: - The
political roadmap of Tamil Nadu’s politics changed drastically after the death
of Jayalalithaa. Though the state is not unfamiliar with political turmoil, the
drama that has unfolded in the past couple of months has been unprecedented.
Three chief ministers were sworn – in the last nine months in the state. AIADMK is split down , each headed by an Amma
loyalist , one headed by O Pannerselvam (OPS) and the
other was initially headed by Jayalalithaa’s aide VK Sasikala, staking
claim to the chief ministership .OPS became caretaker CM just after J
Jayalalithaa ‘s death . Then about two months later, Ms Sasikala said she would
take over from OPS. But then the Supreme
Court provided the mother of all plot twists by, convicted Sasikala in the DA
case and sentenced to 4 years jail on 14th February 2017. Edappadi K
Palaniswami appointed head of the legislature party and expels O Pannerselvam
from AIADMK. Sasikala‘s nephew TTV Dhinakaran became the party’s deputy secretary.
But the Tamil Nadu government decided to remove VK Sasikala and her family from
party .A lookout notice against Dhinakaran has been issued with allegation that
he tries to bribe Election Commission official to get the AIADMK’s two leaves symbol. The tussle to be in political power, the
twist and turn had propelled Tamil Nadu into political uncertainty.
Uttar Pradesh: - The political potboiler in UP is always full of action,
emotional drama and dialogue comparable to any top Bollywood movie. During
election time , it’s much more thrilled because
this state send highest number of
Loksabha and Rajyasabha MPs which make great difference in parliamentary
government . The state politics witness the mother of all battles before the
assembly election of 2017 .The ruling Samajwadi Party went through a bitter
power struggle between Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav .Mulayam Singh
expelled his son and his cousin Ram Gopal Yadav from the party for six years. He
also declare that the party will select a new chief ministerial candidate for
the upcoming assembly election. Akhilesh
took the fight to the election commission and ultimately, won the battle and
the party symbol. This was probably a political stunt to improve the party
image and to gain youth support in the favour of Akhilesh Yadav. After internal
bickering and power struggle, Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party bounced back
with a last minute alliance with the Congess Party. From the family war in the Samajwadi Party , to wooing of Muslims
voters by Bahujan Samaj Party , to
Congress’s last minute piggyback on SP
to have some credibility , to the Prime Minister Narender Modi ‘s magic
, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election had all the interesting elements to spice
up the state politics . But the assembly election’s result was even more unpredictable,
riding on the Modi wave, BJP gets two –thirds majority in the 403 seat assembly.
After election polls , in a surprising move , the BJP announced Yogi Adityanath
, as the next chief minister ,putting an
end to all the suspense , as the part was contesting in assembly election without declaring any chief
ministerial face .
Bihar: - Bihar‘s fast – paced political
drama was enacted on news channels across the nation. With too much dialogue
and very badly performed. All the central characters ultimately failed to live
up to the honour the final verdict of
the people of the state .The ‘Mahagathbandhan ‘ which was formed on 2015 by Nitish Kumar against NDA in Bihar
selections with the Janta Parivar group consisting of six parties including the
Samajwadi party , Janta Dal (united ) , Samajwadi Janta Party , Rashtriya Janta
Dal , and Janta Dal (secular ) had been
split. The chief minister Nitish Kumar resigned due to the differences with RJD
on Tejashwi Yadav ‘s resignation as deputy CM over allegation of corruption ,
but didn’t rule out a tie up with the BJP
for the running a future government .Nitish Kumar’s surprise resignation
changed the political balance in the state . Interestingly the BJP has decided
to support Nitish Kumar to form the government .A day after resigning, Kumar
sworn again as the chief minster with the support from its former ally BJP .Nitish
Kumar broke up with NDA in June 2013 when NDA declared Narender Modi as PM candidate.
In 2015 election he was campaigning against BJP and raised so many elevation
from beef to Ram Mandir and elected as CM and after four years he sworn as a
NDA chief minister. The political equation changed in the state after Nitish
Kumar formally joined NDA. The capital Patna was buzzing with high political
drama for one month and it resulted in high voltage political drama and instability.
Conclusion:-
This study proves that politics in the Indian states is
indeed a roller coaster ride of power. There have been many ups and downs ,
twists and turns , and thrills and fights among
Politician or political parties .But as the ride comes to an end and we
open our eyes again , find ourselves pretty much exactly where we started . And in
a federal state the national politics can’t remain untouched of the political
uncertainty of state politics. Regional parties have been converted into
individual fiefdom or self – interest, state politics in India apart from
ideological basis, and their purpose is simply to aspire to come to power by
hook or crook. States have emerged as the battlefield of politics where hits
and misses on all sides have reinforced certain perceptions and changed others
to attain political power .It is necessary
for our politician and political parties to understand that political
instability is against our democratic federal system
and they must respect the honor of public who elected them , and if
public verdict them to be in opposition , they should play active role through
constructive criticism
rather than creating political instability by defection or immoral
alliances .
Reference:-
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India; Report on a Seminar ‘’, University of California press , Vol. 1 No. 4 (Jun .,1961), pp. 35-40
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[3]. Yadav Yogender and Palshikar
Suhas , ‘’Ten theses on state politics in india ‘’
[4]. Mishra Satish, ‘’Regional parties and Indian politics ‘’
Observer Research Foundation , Oct 07 2016
[5] The
Significance of State legislative assembly elections ,’’Political essay
, 23rd march 2015