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 The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

(INC),

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

(CPI(M)) or

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

(BJP). However, both the BJP, INC and CPI(M) have had some success in forging alliances with regional parties. Unlike in

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

, where religion plays an important role in driving local politics,

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

'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

Telugu Desam Party The Telugu Desam Party (; TDP) is an Indian regional political party operating in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at the state and central level. Since its founding by N. T. Rama Rao (often referred to as NTR) on 29 March 1982, the party has fo ...

(TDP) by

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

film superstar

Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for seven years over three terms. He starred ...

. 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

Telangana movement The Telangana movement refers to a movement for the creation of a separate state, Telangana, from the pre-existing state of Andhra Pradesh in India. The new state corresponds to the Telugu-speaking portions of the erstwhile princely state of H ...

aimed at the formation of a separate

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

state consisting of the northern districts of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. The idea is widely opposed by the members from Rayalaseema and

Coastal Andhra Coastal Andhra (South costal Andhra) also known as Kostha Andhra is a region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Vijayawada is the largest city in this region. It was part of Madras State before 1953 and Andhra State from 1953 to 1956. ...

regions, who favour a united Andhra Pradesh. Caste also figures prominently with politics dominated by major castes like the

Reddy Reddy (also transliterated as ''Raddi'', ''Reddi'', ''Reddiar'', ''Reddappa'', ''Reddy'') is a caste that originated in India, predominantly settled in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are classified as a forward caste. The origin of the ...

s, the Kammas and the Kapus. Naxalism is a political issue in the state, especially Uttarandhra and Telangana regions. Like Tamil Nadu, the film industry in the state has influenced Andhra politics. Besides NTR, film stars like

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu, as well as some fil ...

, Pawan Kalyan and

Dasari Narayana Rao Dasari Narayana Rao (4 May 1947 – 30 May 2017) was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, lyricist, and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, in addition to Hindi cinema. He has directed more than 150 ...

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

Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (; 19 May 1913 – 1 June 1996) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth President of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress Party in the independence ...

and P. V. Narasimha Rao becoming the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

and Prime Minister of India respectively and NTR involved in the formation of the National Front which ruled India between 1989-91. BJP also ruled Andhra Pradesh as a part of alliance govt with TDP.

Telangana

The

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

issued a gazette notification that

state would be carved out of

on 2 June 2014. In the early Telangana movement,

Marri Chenna Reddy Dr. Marri Channa Reddy (13 January 1919 – 2 December 1996) was an Indian politician active in several states. He was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1978 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1990. He also served as the governor of Uttar Pradesh ...

formed a party call ''Telangana Praja Samithi'' to lead the Telangana movement. In November 1969, there was a major split in the party and as result the movement went down. After two years the Telangana Praja Samithi was dissolved and its members rejoined the Congress. On 29 November 2009, KCR 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

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

has been far more successful in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

than it has been in national politics. National political parties such as the BJP have experienced comparatively more success in Karnataka than they have in other states of

. Karnataka's political environment is dominated by two caste groups — the southern Karnataka dominated by

Vokkaliga Vokkaliga (also transliterated as Vokkaligar, Vakkaliga, Wakkaliga, Okkaligar, Okkiliyan) is a community, or a group of closely-related castes, from the Indian state of Karnataka. They are also present in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. As ...

s and the north and central Karnataka dominated by

Lingayat Lingayatism or Veera Saivism is a Hindu denomination based on Shaivism. Initially known as ''Veerashaivas'', since the 12th-century adherents of this faith are known as ''Lingayats''. The terms ''Lingayatism'' and ''Veerashaivism'' have been ...

s but

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

s are major voters and the deciding factor of the ruling party in Karnataka .Price, Pamela.
" Ideological Elements in Political Instability in Karnataka..."
. University of Oslo

Ramakrishna Hegde Ramakrishna Mahabaleshwar Hegde (29 August 1926 – 12 January 2004) was an Indian politician who served as the tenth Chief Minister of Karnataka for three terms between 1983 and 1988. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1 ...

played an integral part in the ascent of the Janata Dal into the national foray in the late 1980s. However, it was his political rival H.D. Deve Gowda, then the Chief Minister of Karnataka, who later went on to become the Prime Minister of India. Caste has figured prominently in Karnataka politics. Anti-

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

and anti-Tamil movements were prominent in Karnataka politics in the 1960s and 1970s.Nair, Janaki
"Battles for Bangalore: Reterritorialising the City"
Centre for the Study of Culture and Society. Bangalore, India. Language activism is high in the state, with organisations like the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and the Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha often launching agitations for protecting the interests of

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

Kannadiga The Kannada people or Kannadigaru IAST">nowiki/>IAST:_Kannadadavaru_or_Kannadigas_(English_term).html" ;"title="IAST.html" ;"title="nowiki/>IAST">nowiki/>IAST: Kannadadavaru or Kannadigas (English term)">IAST.html" ;"title="nowiki/>IAST">nowik ...

s. The

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri (hill), Karnataka, Brahmagiri range in th ...

water dispute with

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

and the Belgaum border dispute with Maharashtra 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

Politics in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

comprises two major political alliances: the United Democratic Front (UDF — led by the

), the

Left Democratic Front The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of left-wing political parties in the state of Kerala, India. It is the current ruling political alliance of Kerala, since 2016. It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the oth ...

(LDF — led by the

) alternating to power. Kerala has a significant Muslim and Christian population which traditionally form the base of UDF, whereas

Ezhavas The Ezhavas () are a community with origins in the region of India presently known as Kerala, where in the 2010s they constituted about 23% of the population and were reported to be the largest Hindu community. They are also known as ''Ilhava ...

, a

backward class The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, ...

community form the core of LDF. Former president K R Narayanan, and first Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha

A K Gopalan Ayillyath Kuttiari Gopalan (1 October 1904 – 22 March 1977), popularly known as A. K. Gopalan or AKG, was an Indian communist politician. He was one of 16 Communist Party of India members elected to the first Lok Sabha in 1952. Later he bec ...

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

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

C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

and

K. Kamaraj Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...

. The political influence shifted towards

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

in the late 1960s. The shift in political power in Tamil Nadu was due to the rise of Dravidan Nationalism spearheaded by leaders such as

Periyar Ramasami Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'F ...

and

C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...

, who extolled the achievements of

Tamilians The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...

in ways that the common man could relate to. The main facets of state politics in Tamil Nadu included ''language'' — the distinction between Tamil and non-Tamil speakers was an important tool used by the DMK in the 1960s and '' caste'' — such as the Self-respect Movement. The imposition of

on non-Hindi speaking areas of India has often been a contentious issue in Tamil Nadu. In January–February 1965, large scale

Anti-Hindi agitations The anti-Hindi-imposition agitations in Tamil Nadu were a series of agitations that happened in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (formerly Madras State and part of Madras Presidency) during both pre- and post-independence periods. The agitation ...

, a cause championed by the DMK,Guha, Ramachandra
"Hindi against India"
2006. The Hindu. The Hindu Group. 16 Jan. 2005 occurred in Tamil Nadu. In 1972, a split in the DMK resulted in the formation of the

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief mi ...

led by

MG Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

.Harris, Wyatt
"The Changing Politics of Tamil Nadu in the 1990s"
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630130734/http://www.dcrcdu.org/dcrc/John+Harriss.doc , date=2007-06-30 . Political Mobilisation and Political Competition. Dec 2004. Since then, the two major Dravidian parties DMK headed by Karunanidhi and ADMK led by Jayalailtha alternate to power. Former

Presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

R Venkataraman and

APJ Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied ...

were from the state.

Notes

South India Politics of India