Define political diversity in india

India’s political diversity has increased over time, with a considerable jump in the 1990s. Even though the 2014 Lok Sabha polls saw a decline in political diversity, we argue that there is little evidence from the subsequent assembly elections to suggest any major reversal from the post-1990 levels. 

As is to be expected, political diversity varies considerably across states. We present an ENP-based framework to measure the impact of pre-poll alliances and assess the nature of competition in each state. It clearly shows that even as there is space for five to six parties at the state level, an electoral contest after considering alliances is usually restricted to two or three parties. Extending this analysis to the booth level, we find that the contest rarely goes beyond two candidates and at times is dominated by just one candidate.