General Elections, 1996-Local Issues Dominate in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

Local Issues Dominate in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu Arthur G Rubinoff The 1996 elections, which decimated the Congress, left the southern states which are so crucial to the forging of a parliamentary majority in India with very little representation by national parties in New Delhi Because the Bharatiya Janata Party is not yet a factor in that part of the country, the already preponderant regional parties have assumed even greater importance in India's new electoral equation. Their support is essential if the legislative coalitions that have become necessary in the post-Congress era are to be viable.