Communal and Regional Parties

● The Hindu Mahasabha, which was founded in 1915 at Haridwar by Madan Mohan Malaviya, gradually disappeared from the political scene after 1952 and lost its support base to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

● The Muslim League, owing to its association with the demand for Pakistan, lay dormant and many of its leaders joined the Congress Party and other parties. Later, it revived in parts of Tamil Nadu and in Kerala and was to become coalition partners of the Congress, CPI and CPM in coming years.

● The Akali Dal gave way to Shiromani Akali Dal and remained limited to Punjab.

● The other regional parties which came into prominence were—The DMK (Tamil Nadu), the Jammu and Kashmir National conference (J & K), Jharkhand Party (in undivided Bihar), Ganatantra Parishad (Orissa), All Parties Hill Leaders’ Conference (Assam), Scheduled Castes Federation (Maharashtra) etc. Forward Bloc (West Bengal) and Peasants and Workers Party (Maharashtra) were parties inclined towards left ideology but restricted to only one state.