Former IAS officer Shah Faesal with former JNU student leader Shehla Rashid during a rally organised to launch a new political party in Srinagar on Sunday. (Photo: H.U. Naqash)

The regular phenomenon of a multiplicity of political parties seems to have taken on an even more zany plot, with a profusion of peculiar names in the 2019 poll season. The presence of 2,293 parties must give India an exalted place in the record book. Some of the  names sound bizarre — like “Sabsi Badi Party” from Delhi, “Bharosa Party” from Telangana and “New Generation People’s Party” from Tamil Nadu, that have sprung up on the eve of the polls. Such a plethora of parties, as opposed to the US two-party system, must seem really confusing for people who constitute the electorate. However, India’s diversity of regions and the sentiments and aspirations of its people, that are reflected in such a number of parties, may be ill served by the homogenisation seen in the West. Indian democracy may thus seem excessively loud, but the system is rooted in India’s ground realities.

Among the more interesting new parties is of Shah Faesal, once an IAS topper and J&K administrator. He lost his father to militancy and was looked upon with scepticism as an establishment figure. Pulled up once for being bold enough to call India “Rapistan”, Shah Faesal resigned from the IAS to enter politics full-time in a bid to “change the wind” in his home State. For decades, there were few regional parties in the Valley besides the National Conference, founded by Sheikh Abdullah. Then came the PDP, which may, however, have suffered an image hit after its short-lived alliance with the BJP. Shah Faesal’s JKPM may aim to displace the PDP as a regional force, but we suspect it may be more in the liberal democratic mould of the Omar Abdullah-led NC.