[[चित्र:Cpmernakulam (40).jpg|thumb|A [[Left Democratic Front]] rally in केरळ
Politics in South India is dominated by a mix of regional parties and larger national political parties like the [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] (INC), the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) and the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] (CPI(M)). With the exclusion of [[कर्नाटक|Karnataka]], each state has at least [[Two-party system|two parties]] dominating politics in that state.

Pre-independence politics in the Madras Presidency was dominated by the [[Justice Party]] and the [[Indian National Congress|INC]]. [[Periyar Ramasami]] who started the [[Dravidian movement]] was elected leader of the [[Justice Party (India)|Justice Party]] in 1938 and in 1944 renamed it to [[Dravidar Kazhagam]], with its initial aim being the secession of "[[Dravida Nadu]]" from the rest of India on independence. Following independence, Periyar strongly believed that the party should not participate in elections in the newly created India, something his closest followers disagreed with. In 1948, [[C. N. Annadurai]], a follower of Periyar and a Joint Secretary of Dravidar Kazhagam parted ways with Periyar to form the [[Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam]] political party. INC's political influence over Tamil Nadu gave way to the rise of the DMK which formed its first government in 1968 and again in 1978. The following year, a split in the DMK resulted in the formation of the [[All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam]] (AIADMK), lead by [[M. G. Ramachandran]]. Together, the AIADMK and the DMK currently command a 60% share in Tamil Nadu state elections.

The main facets of state politics in Tamil Nadu included "language" — the distinction between Tamil and non-Tamil speakers was an important tool used by the DMK in the 1960s and "caste" — such as the [[Self-respect Movement]]. The imposition of Hindi on non-Hindi speaking areas of India has often been a contentious issue in Tamil Nadu. In January-February 1965, large scale anti-Hindi agitations, a cause championed by the DMK, occurred in Tamil Nadu.

In 1982, the establishment of the [[Telugu Desam Party]] in Andhra Pradesh by former Telugu actor [[Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao]] (NTR) broke the dominance of the INC in Andhra Pradesh politics. NTR successfully challenged the INC's supremacy in the state and his party was voted into power a total of four times. In 1996, a year after winning the state assembly election by a landslide, a dispute between NTR, his wife Lakshmi Parvati and his immediate family resulted in a split in the TDP. Concerned over undue influence over NTR and his policies, the bulk of the party favoured the family under the leadership of NTR's son-in-law, [[N Chandrababu Naidu]], who later became Chief Minister of the state. Naidu was regarded as a visionary who promoted the growth of information technology in the state. On August 26, 2008 [[Chiranjeevi]], the leading actor of the [[Telugu film]] industry launched a new party at [[Tirupathi]], called [[Prajarajyam]]. He said he would be constesting for the elections scheduled in the next year.

The [[Janata Dal]] has been far more successful in Karnataka than it has been in national politics. National political parties such as the BJP and INC have experienced more comparative success in Karnataka than they have in other states of South India. Karnataka's political environment is dominated by two rival caste groups — the [[Vokkaliga]]s and the [[Lingayat]]s. [[Ramakrishna Hegde]] played an integral part in the ascent of the Janata Dal into the national foray in the late 1980s. However, it was his political rival [[H. D. Deve Gowda]], then the Chief Minister of Karnataka, who later went on to become the [[Prime Minister of India]].

केरळ hosts two major political alliances: the [[United Democratic Front (India)|United Democratic Front]] (UDF, led by the [[Indian National Congress]]) and the [[Left Democratic Front]] (LDF, led by the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]). केरळ numbers among India's most left-wing states. An interesting phenomenon of केरळ politics is the alternate election of Congress and the Communists to power.

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