But the brand of regionalism that evolved after Potti Sriramulu’s death was legitimate, genuine and logical. It reflected the aspirations of people at that time. It stood for fulfilling the longstanding desire of people to have their own linguistic state. Thus, Andhra Pradesh became the first linguistic state of India. Today, Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh is renamed as Potti Sriramulu.
After the death of Sriramulu, reluctant Nehru was forced to accede to the various cries from other parts of the country with similar demands. In 1954, a States Reorganization Committee was formed with Fazal Ali as its head, which recommended the formation of 16 new states and 3 Union Territories based on the language people spoke in those respective regions. This heralded a new phase in the Indian politics. The subsequent movements for separate states and territories gave birth to slew of regional parties which eventually became prominent in national level and thus started coalition culture in Indian politics.
Regionalism: Meaning
Regionalism is a feeling or an ideology among a section of people residing in a particular geographical space characterized by unique language, culture etc. that they are the sons of the soil and every opportunity that exists in their land must be accorded to them first but not to the outsiders. It is a sort of Parochialism. In most of the cases it is raised for expedient political gains but not necessarily.
Growth and Development
Regionalism in India can be traced back to Dravida Movement started in Tamil Nadu. The movement initially focused on empowering Dalits, non-Brahmins,