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State Politics in India: - The Roller Coaster Ride of Power

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:-  
[1]. Weiner, Myron:’’ State Politics In India; Report on a Seminar ‘’, University of California press , Vol. 1 No. 4 (Jun .,1961), pp. 35-40                                                                        
[2]. Sezhiya ,Era , ‘Party system in federal India’’ Hindu , 4 July 1996: pp 10    Sangita S.N.,’  ’Political Instability : Need for Reforms ,’’Young India 10(7), 25 sep 1999 : p.10-11                                
[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

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