How did regional

The regional parties are the result of the regional aspirations and uprisings in the region. The leaders of the regional uprisings form their own party to represent their group and try to gain the power to come to power. The following are few examples of the regional movements that lead to the formation of regional parties in India:

1. PUNJAB: The Sikh minority in Punjab wanted to establish a separate state for them named “Khalistan” to serve as the homeland for Sikhs. The Shiromani Akali Dal urged upon the Janta government to take cognizance of the demands of the linguistic and cultural minority. The violent protests of the group led to the killing of various non-Sikh people.

2. ASSAM: The movement to remove the non-Assamese from the state led to the formation of “AASU” (ALL ASSAM STUDENTS’ UNION) in the 1970s. The movement demanded that all non-Assamese speaking people should be migrated from Assam. It led to a number of strikes, agitation, and marches directed against the central government to make its clear demand to remove all the outsiders.

3. ANDHRA PRADESH: The frequent change of Chief Ministers and imposition of leaders from New Delhi created a feeling of disrespect in people. This was seen as an insult to the pride of Telugu people. This led to the formation of Telugu Desam Party in 1982 by N.T. Rama Rao with the objective of bringing respect and stability in Andhra Pradesh.

Hence during both the phases, there were different sects of people demanding their own separate states and wanting greater autonomy from the Centre. Some of them even wanted to go out of India itself. Although the State Reorganization Commission was set up in 1956, peaceful initiatives were begun by the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1990s for Mizoram, Assam, and Punjab.