Are regional parties losing relevance in India? | Data

Published 12 August 2026 · politics

Two political developments in the recent past make one ponder over the future of regional parties in Indian politics: the defeat of the Trinamool Congress

Two political developments in the recent past make one ponder over the future of regional parties in Indian politics: the defeat of the Trinamool Congress in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections and the wave of defections witnessed across several regional parties. There have even been questions about whether regional parties can occupy salient positions, particularly in the context of the proposed “One Nation, One Election” framework. However, the electoral defeat of regional parties should not be interpreted as evidence of the decline of regional parties as a whole. Vote share is perhaps the best indicator of the underlying support base of a party. The vote share of national and regional parties has not changed much during the last four Lok Sabha elections as well as across State Assembly elections. Voters continue to display a much stronger preference for regional parties in Assembly elections than in Lok Sabha elections, highlighting the enduring importance of State-level political identities. One cannot deny the fact that several regional parties have faced defections in recent years. The Trinamool, following its defeat, witnessed several defections. Similarly, the AAP saw many of its Rajya Sabha MPs defect, while the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) also saw defections in Maharashtra. While these developments point to organisational vulnerabilities, defections by themselves do not indicate a shrinking electoral support base. Changing political landscape As far as the current political landscape is concerned, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the ruling party on its own in 11 States, while the Congress has governments in three States. Regional parties independently govern four States.

There are 10 other States where coalition governments are in office. Of these, in four States, regional parties are the dominant partners, while the BJP plays a supporting role (Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Puducherry). In the remaining six States, the BJP leads the coalition governments in alliance with regional parties (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Maharashtra and Tripura). There are also three States where the Congress is part of coalition governments with regional parties. Congress is the junior alliance partner in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir. In Kerala, Congress leads the coalition government with other parties. This is the lowest number of States independently governed by regional parties in nearly two and a half decades. Between 2015 and 2020, regional parties independently governed nine States without requiring support from any other party. These figures certainly lend support to the perception that regional parties are facing a period of electoral and organisational stress. However, India’s first-past-the-post electoral system often magnifies electoral victories and defeats. Consequently, the decline in the number of governments headed by regional parties does not imply a corresponding decline in their electoral support. An analysis of the votes polled by various political parties during the last four Lok Sabha elections presents a more nuanced picture. The combined vote share of national parties has varied between 60.04% and 68.15% during the last four Lok Sabha elections, indicating that their overall electoral support has remained relatively stable despite major changes in political outcomes The lowest combined vote share of national parties was recorded in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when they polled 60.04% of the total votes, while the highest was recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when they secured 68.15% of the vote in an election held against the backdrop of the Balakot air strikes.