Politics in South India

Politics in South India (except Karnataka and Kerala) is typically dominated by regional parties than by the larger national political parties such as the Indian National Congress (INC), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) or Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, both the BJP, INC and CPI(M) have had some success in forging alliances with regional parties. Unlike in North India, where religion plays an important role in driving local politics, South India's political issues of contention are mainly language and ethnicity.

Andhra Pradesh

After the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1953, the Indian National Congress ruled the state for 30 years, winning all elections in the period. This changed in the 1980s due to the establishment of a regional party named

. They won the 1983 Assembly election by a landslide, NTR becoming the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. Since then, both the TDP and the Congress have dominated Andhra politics, with either party coming to power.

The main issue which dominates Andhra politics is the

among others have successfully made their mark in the politics of the state.

Andhra Pradesh state leaders have contributed at the national level, with former Chief Ministers

National Front

which ruled India between 1989-91. BJP also ruled Andhra Pradesh as a part of alliance govt with TDP.

Telangana

The President issued a gazette notification that Telangana state would be carved out of Andhra Pradesh on 2 June 2014.

In the early Telangana movement,

started a fast-unto-death, demanding that the Congress party introduce a Telangana bill in Parliament. Student organisations, employee unions, and various organisations joined the movement. As general strikes shut down Telangana, the Telangana Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on 18 February 2014 and in the Rajya Sabha on 18 February 2014, with support from the BJP. On 4 March 2014 the Government of India declared that 2 June would be Telangana Formation Day.
. BJP now has a significant role in Telangana politics . They won 4 Loksabha seats in the 2019 Indian General Elections.

Karnataka

The

both hold an important place in the politics of the state. In the 2018 state assembly elections Yedyurappa led BJP, winning 104 seats out of 224, followed by INC 78, JD(S)37; but on the day of results none of the party reached the magic number 113 so INC offered unconditional support to JDS form a government on basis of ideology. But after a 14 month stint in office H.D Kumaraswamy's government fell on July 23, 2019 and as a result both congress and JD(S) parted ways after 14 months. BJP is the largest Political party & the ruling party in the state now.

Kerala

A K Gopalan

of CPM, were both from Kerala. Kerala created history by democratically electing communists to power in 1957, being the first in the world to do so.

Tamil Nadu

Main article: Politics of Tamil Nadu

Indian National Congress dominated the political scene in the initial years post independence with leaders like

Jayalailtha

alternate to power.

Former

APJ Abdul Kalam

were from the state.

See also

• List of political parties in India
• Politics of India
• Dravida Nadu

Notes

1. ^ Price, Pamela. " Ideological Elements in Political Instability in Karnataka..." Archived 2006-05-25 at the Wayback Machine. University of Oslo
2. ^ Nair, Janaki. "Battles for Bangalore: Reterritorialising the City". Centre for the Study of Culture and Society. Bangalore, India.
3. ^ ^{a b} Harris, Wyatt. "The Changing Politics of Tamil Nadu in the 1990s" Archived 2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine. Political Mobilisation and Political Competition. Dec 2004.
4. ^ Guha, Ramachandra. "Hindi against India". 2006. The Hindu. The Hindu Group. 16 Jan. 2005