Regional parties and Indian politics (Observer Research Foundation)

In India, regional parties have been coming up at regular intervals playing different roles in the country’s parliamentary democracy. Some parties like the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference were even founded before the country gained independence in 1947. But most of other parties came into existence after country attained freedom.

http://www.orfonline.org/expert-speaks/regional-parties-indian-politics/