Two complementary features of the present Lok Sabha deserve attention. One is the large number of small parties - the number having increased from 29 to 41 – and the other is their tendency to coalesce into a front ... These outfits convey the clear signs of fragmentation of the political arena on narrow considerations. But ... what is immediately obvious is the trend towards cohabiting with a large party - either the Congress or the BJP - or to form an alliance of their own ... Another recent phenomenon is the effort towards forming a separate group the moment differences arise within a front. For instance, when the TDP found it difficult to go along with the UF ... Several other smaller parties have considered collaborating with each other for the sole purpose of embarrassing the saffron lobby. These ... include the Samajwadi Party, the RJD, the SJP and the RJP ... are all offshoots of a major party ..

... They all probably feel a little lost (like the Tamil Maanila Congress) ... Most of these are also one-person outfits. If the SP, RJD, SJP and RJP amount to nothing without Mulayam Singh Yadav, Laloo Yadav, Chandra Shekhar and Shankarsinh Vaghela, parties like Biju Janata Dal, Lokshakti and Trinamul Congress are solely dependent for their identity on Patnaik, Hegde and Mamata Banerjee ... The fact that they all seem to pin their hopes on one individual carries the seeds of whimsicality and consequent instability. This is true of even a fairly large party like the AIADMK ... Even a major party enjoying their support will never feel quite at ease. The reason why they have flourished is, of course, the decline of national parties. Unless the latter show signs of revival, the small parties will continue to play a role .. much larger than what their sizes warrant.