How Autonomous Are the Branches?

How are political parties organised in multilevel political systems? What are the links between the national party (or the central leadership) and its regional branches (or state units)? How much autonomy do the branches have? These classical questions of the study of political parties in federal states have found a new resonance after the recent development within the Bharatiya Janata Party. Some commentators have even considered that the party is now not more than a collection of separate state units. Along this line and focusing on Gujarat, the author argues and shows how over the last 10 years the Gujarat branch of the BJP has become an autonomous regional party.