Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma urged Northeastern regional parties to unite, warning that fragmentation has enabled national parties and the Centre to dominate decisions impacting indigenous communities and state autonomy.
Once central to identity politics and decentralised governance, regional parties across India are steadily losing ground, with formerly powerful outfits weakened by recent electoral setbacks.
Financial strain, leadership crises, defections and organisational decay have further eroded regional parties’ strength, deepening the need for collective action to preserve local political influence
TIPRA Motha founder Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma on November 27 made a strong pitch for a united political platform of Northeastern regional parties, arguing that only collective action can counter the growing dominance of national parties and ensure that the Centre takes regional concerns seriously. Pradyot warned that the Northeast has paid a heavy price for decades because its political forces have remained fragmented, allowing national parties and the Union Government to dictate terms on issues that directly affect indigenous communities and state autonomy.
Once the backbone of sub-national identity politics and decentralised governance, regional parties are increasingly losing ground and with them, the aspirations of local electorates. Whether it was the Dravidian surge in Tamil Nadu, OBC politics in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, or regional autonomy demands in states like Assam or Telangana, regional parties became the strong voice. But today, many of those same parties are bleeding support. Recent electoral verdicts have seen once-dominant regional outfits lose their grip.
Shrinking financial resources, organisational disarray, leadership crises and defections to bigger parties have weakened many.
Outlook in its February 22, 2022 edition titled Altered Federalism looked at how the relationship between the Centre and the states has strained over time with regional parties often at loggerheads with the central government and losing their voice in this process.
Writer and photographer Vivek Menezes looked at how the voice and problems of Goa needs to be heard more often at the central level.
Asad Ashraf explained how relations between the central government and states need a relook amidst several controversies.
From Maharashtra, Haima Deshpande looks at how the ties between the governments in Maharashtra and those at centre have often been at loggerheads.
Yamini Aiyar deep-dove on how the future of Indian federalism rests on how contradictions created by new distributive pressures and political delimitation are negotiated.
Journalist Harish Khare argued how an overt centralisation of power is choking India’s federal structure.
Sudhirendar Sharma explored how Dravidian politics is once again rearing its head with Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin picked up the battle for more autonomy to states.
From Kashmir, Naseer Ganai looked at how Kashmir has suffered at the hands of a centralising New Delhi.
Rekha Chowdhary looked at how Ladakh is battling centralisation to save its identity and culture.
Mohd Faisal wrote how the emergence of smaller population groups to assert their claims over the political space has given birth to smaller regional parties, sometimes representing minuscule communities often ignored or subsumed by larger political groupings.
