Regional parties are vehicle for national parties, says Vilasrao Deshmukh

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh today said that regional parties are vehicle for national parties to reach out to every nook and corner of the country.

New Delhi, Dec 2 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh today said that regional parties are vehicle for national parties to reach out to every nook and corner of the country.

"Regional political parties represent the aspirations of the regions, grow on regional issues and are vehicles for national parties to reach out to the people," Deshmukh said in his address at the Update Session titled "Will Regional Politics Reshape the Indian Economy?" at the India Economic Summit here.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and World Economic Forum jointly organized the summit.

He further said that when it came to national interest these parties forget their political differences and work together.

Deshmukh emphasised on consensus among political parties on policies related to industry, agriculture and education sectors, to provide a sense of security to foreign investors.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi, National Spokesperson Congress Party, said that coalition governments are genuinely an articulation of regional aspirations. A country as diverse as India cannot be governed without the existence of regional parties that act as safety valves, he added.

Rajya Sabha Member D Raja said that Indians were always striving for better governance and better alternatives, and they are not pessimistic.

"The coalition must confine itself to the limited mandate and not go beyond - if it tries to go beyond this mandate there will be problems," he said.

Politics in country had not become bipolar with two parties attracting stable regional alliances, Arun Jaitley, General Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party, said.

He further said that regional parties are usually caste based and therefore their pre-dominant agenda is to consolidate the caste base, while the national parties align themselves with these parties to create a win-win situation.

ANI