Tamil Nadu: The main ideology of the two main parties of the state, AIADMK and DMK, is Tamil pride. The DMK, which began with demanding an independent Dravida Desam. It opposed the attempt to introduce Hindi in Tamil Nadu, and termed Tamil Brahmins “agents of North India”. The party demanded quota in government jobs for Dravidians and not to ‘immigrant’ Brahmins.

Andhra Pradesh: A greenhorn in politics, actor N T Rama Rao founded the Telegu Desam Party in 1982 and rode to power on the agenda of local cultural pride.

Assam: In British India, Assam for some period was attached to the neighbouring Bengal province. During this period, the Bengalis held many senior government posts. Later on Assam again became a separate province, but many government posts continued to be held by Bengalis. In the 1960s and 1970s, as Assam saw migration from Bengal, and then Bangladesh, fears grew that locals were being pushed off the state map. In the 1980s the Asom Gana Parishad was founded with the agenda to give Assam back to the Assamese people. Since then ULFA has frequently targeted migrant labourers

Delhi: CM Sheila Dikshit had to swiftly backtrack in May 2007 after expressing helplessness over the huge migrant influx into the Capital. As Parliament came to a standstill over the CM’s remarks, she apologised and said Delhi was “a home for people from every part of the country”. But the New Year began on another sour note, when Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna had to eat his words on the issue.