The Politics of Regionalism in India by Lewis P. Fickett, Jr. is a comprehensive read on regional parties in Indian politics since the 1967 General Election. The author discusses the growth of these parties, their political roles, and their aspirations within the Indian political system. The author examines the origins and evolution of regional chauvinist parties, such as the Akali Dal, Muslim League, and Shiv Sena, and their strategies, such as agitational politics, electoral participation, and alliances with other political groups.

Fickett highlights the diverse manifestations of regionalism in Indian politics, focusing attention on parties like the Akali Dal, Muslim League, and Shiv Sena, which advocate for , in his understanding, regional interests and identities. These parties employ various strategies, including agitational politics, electoral participation, and alliances, to advance their agendas.

The Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Kranti Dal (BKD) are notably discussed, with the latter experiencing significant electoral success in Uttar Pradesh during the February 1969 Mid-Term Election. The BKD's success, he avers, can be attributed to factors such as caste mobilization, economic representation, regional focus, and effective leadership under Charan Singh. His neo-Gandhian and rural-agrarian skew gave the party a wide mandate it so needed: he remained steadfast on his  agendas which included the call for the abolition of food zones and the establishment of an industrial economy based on small units. The party focused on the decentralisation of power at the centre and the affirmation of the Constitution’s federal overlay. The village remained the ideological fulcrum — investments were to move to village-based and smaller industries, effectively eschewing the novel focus on heavy industries. Fickett notes an atavism at the heart of the party which sought to recapture the essence of Congress’s pre-indepdence halcyon days, free of “corruption and bossism” which had alienated most of the BKD’s leadership away from the party. Charan Singh, the most celebrated of these “defected” leaders emerged as a figurehead and his reputation among old Congress members as someone with utmost public moral temerity had led to the voting public associating him with a rule of order in the prevailing chaos of the decade, which had been marked by civil disobedience of all sorts.

By 1971, the BKD had entered its unfortunate twilight phase; which for Fickett is coincidentally the year that marks the era of setback for regionalisation on the electoral plane across the country. Retrospection gives us the luxury of knowing that regionalisation as a drive did not die once and for all, and has regularly made comebacks with coming election seasons. This paper is then an essential read for anyone trying to understand the larger genealogy of regionalisation which has become the cornerstone of coalition politics today.