ABSTRACT
In early 2009 another new party formed in Tamil Nadu. The Kongu Nadu Munnetra Peravai (KNMP) is based in the Kongunad region of western Tamil Nadu. The party is unusual among the new parties that have formed since 1989 because it identifies itself with a region. The KNMP put up 12 candidates to contest the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The leadership of the KNMP campaigned on issues of general interest in the region. They argued for more concessions for farmers, for lifting the ban on tapping toddy palms (to make country liquor), and more economic development in the region. The KNMP threatened that if these demands were not addressed the party would campaign for the formation of a new state. The party was relatively successful in its first election. It won 1.9 per cent of the state-wide vote and significantly this vote was quite concentrated. The KNMP won more than the winning margin in four seats it contested. The leadership of the party is already talking of the 2011 assembly election (The Hindu 2009c). The party leaders are well placed to follow the path taken by a number of new parties in Tamil Nadu since 1989. It will be interesting to see if they make their way into one of the main alliances that will contest the next assembly election.
