Discuss the significance of Dalit-led regional parties in shaping coalition politics in southern Indian states.

Scheduled Castes form about 20% of Tamil Nadu's population [1], yet Dalit political power in the South has been exercised less through independent majorities than through coalitions. Parties like the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) matter because they convert demographic weight into bargaining leverage within Dravidian-led fronts.

Bargaining power in fragmented mandates

• Vote-transfer capacity: geographically concentrated Dalit votes in northern Tamil Nadu districts make such parties sought-after allies in close contests.
• Recognised-party status under the Election Commission brings a reserved symbol and broadcast privileges, strengthening the claim to seats [2].
• Alliance mobility: VCK's traditional place in the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance alongside its 2026 signalling of travelling "together" with Vijay's TVK shows how junior partners extract seat shares and office [3].

Agenda-setting beyond seat arithmetic

• Push anti-caste concerns — atrocity prevention, internal sub-quota, honour-killing legislation — into coalition manifestos, giving substance to the reservation of Assembly seats under Article 332.
• Reframe federalism: the Ulundurpet resolutions sought "genuine State autonomy" and constitutional amendment for wider State powers over education, economy and culture [3], reviving the Sarkaria–Punchhi Commission debate on Centre-State relations [4].
• Carry external-affairs concerns of the electorate, such as the demand for a referendum on Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka [3].

Limits on their influence

• Dependence on dominant Dravidian partners caps seat allotment and independent strike rate.
• A caste-concentrated base restricts expansion and risks counter-consolidation by rival groups.
• The stated ambition to become "capable of ruling Tamil Nadu" [3] remains aspirational without a broader social coalition.

Dalit-led regional parties thus function as both swing-makers and conscience-keepers of southern coalitions — small in seats, large in agenda. Their evolution from vote banks to policy negotiators deepens the constitutional promise of fraternity and social justice under the Preamble; strengthening intra-alliance consultation, as the Punchhi Commission urged for federal bodies, would let this assertion mature into genuinely inclusive governance.