Lok Shakti in Karnataka

This paper attempts to locate the two-year old party, the Lok Shakti within the broader framework of Karnataka's electoral politics. The state electorate has largely not favoured regional parties, either in the Lok Sabha or in the assembly elections. Karnataka's electoral politics has mostly witnessed a bipolar competition between two major national parties/alliances, thus squeezing the third force out of the competition. The limited success of Ramakrishna Hegde's Lok Shakti can therefore be linked to its being part of an alliance that was seen as a major player in the bipolar competition.