POLITICAL

PARTIES
• A political party is a group of people who come together to
contest elections and hold power in the government.
• They agree on some policies and programmes for the society
with a view to promote the collective good.
• Parties try to persuade people why their policies are better
than others.
• They seek to implement these policies by winning popular
support through elections.
 PARTISAN
• A person who is strongly
committed to a party,
group or faction.
• Partisanship is marked by a
tendency to take a side and
inability to take a balanced
view on an issue.
• Parties reflect fundamental
political divisions in a society.
• A party is known by which
part it stands for, which
policies it supports and
whose interests it upholds.
Components of a Political Party

Leaders
Active members
Followers
 Parties contest elections
• In most democracies, elections
are fought mainly among the
candidates put up by political
parties.
• Parties select their candidates in
different ways:-
a) In some countries, such as the
USA, members and supporters of
a party choose its candidates.
b) In other countries like India, top
party leaders choose candidates
for contesting elections.
 Parties put forward different policies
and programmes and the voters choose
from them.
• In a democracy, a large number of similar opinions have to be
grouped together to provide a direction in which policies can
be formulated by the governments.
• This party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic
positions which it supports.

A government is expected
to base its policies on the line taken by the ruling party.
 Parties play a decisive role in
making laws for a country.
• Laws are debated and passed in the legislature.
• Since most of the members belong to a party, they go by
the direction of the party leadership, irrespective of their
personal opinions.
 Parties form and run
Governments.
• The big policy decisions are taken by political executive that
comes from the political parties.
• Parties recruit leaders, train them and then make them
ministers to run the government in the way they want.
 Play the role of opposition
• Those parties that lose in the elections play the role of
opposition to the parties in power, by voicing different
views and criticizing government for its failures or wrong
policies.
 Parties shape public opinion.
• They raise and highlight issues.
• Parties have a large number of
members and activists spread all
over the country.
• Parties sometimes also launch
movements for the resolution of
problems faced by people.
• Often opinions in the society
crystallize on the lines parties
take.
 Political Parties provide people
access to government machinery
and welfare schemes implemented
by Governments.
• For an ordinary citizen it is easy
to approach a local party leader
than a government officer.
• Parties have to be responsive to
people’s needs and demands.
• Otherwise people can reject
those parties in the next
elections.
 Necessity of Political Parties in a
representative democracy.
• Political parties make promises to the people about any major
policy changes.
• Parties make candidates responsible for how the country
will be run rather than limiting the development activities to
their constituencies.
• As societies became large and complex, they also needed some
agency to gather different views on various issues and to
present these to the government.
• Bring various representatives together so that a responsible
government could be formed.
• Provides a mechanism to support or restrain the
government, make policies, justify or oppose them.
 Party Systems
• More than 750 parties are registered with election
commission of India.
• Any democratic system should allow minimum two p
• But not all these parties are serious contenders in the
elections.
• Only a handful of parties are effectively in the race to win
elections and form the government.
 Single Party System
• In some countries, only one party is allowed to control
and run the government.
• In China, only the Communist Party is allowed to rule.

Single party system is not

democratic.
• Any democratic system must allow at least two parties
to compete in elections and provide a fair chance for
the competing parties to come to power.
 Two Party System
• In some countries, power usually changes between two
main parties.
• Only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning
majority of seats to form government.
• The United States of America and the United Kingdom
are examples of two-party system.
 Multi Party System
• If several parties compete for power, and more than two
parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power
either on their own strength or in alliance with others.
• In this system, the government is formed by various parties
coming together in a coalition.
ALLIANCE / FRONT
• When several parties in a multi-party system join hands
for the purpose of contesting elections and winning power,
it is called an alliance or a front.
 Alliances in India
• In India there were three major alliances in 2004
parliamentary elections :–
• National Democratic Alliance
• United Progressive Alliance
• Left Front.
 National Political Party
• Parties that are present in several or all units of the
federation.
• These parties have their units in various states.
• All these units follow the same policies, programmes and
strategy that is decided at the national level.
Recognized Political Party
The Election Commission has laid down detailed criteria of the proportion
of votes and seats that a party must get in order to be a recognised
party.
State Party : A party that secures at least six per cent of the total votes
in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a State and wins at
least two seats is recognised as a State party.
National Party : A party that secures at least six per cent of the total
votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four States
and wins at least four seats in the Lok Sabha is recognised as a
national party.
According to this classification, there were
seven national recognised parties in the
country in 2006.
 Indian National Congress
• Popularly known as the Congress Party.
• One of the oldest parties of the world - Founded
in 1885 and has experienced many splits.
• Played a dominant role in Indian politics at
the national and state level for several decades
after India’s Independence .
• Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru,
the party sought to build a modern secular
democratic republic in India.
• Ideological Orientation : A centrist party
(neither rightist nor leftist) in its ideological
orientation, the party supports secularism and
welfare of weaker sections and minorities .
• Supports new economic reforms.
• History of INC in Parliament : Ruling party at the centre till
1977 and then from 1980 to 1989. After 1989, its support
declined, but it continues to be present throughout the country,
cutting across social divisions.
• 2004 election : Emerged as the largest party with 145
members in the Lok Sabha elections held in 2004 and leads the
ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition government at the
Centre.
• 2019 election : In 2019 Lok Sabha election, the party won 19.5%
votes and 52 seats.
 Communist Party of India – Marxist
• Founded in 1964.
• Ideological orientation : Believes in Marxism
Leninism. Supports socialism, secularism
and democracy and opposes imperialism
and communalism.
• Accepts democratic elections as a useful and
helpful means for securing the objective of
socio economic justice in India.
• Critical of the new economic policies that
allow free flow of foreign capital and goods into
the country.
• Regions of support : Enjoys strong support in West Bengal,
Kerala and Tripura, especially among the poor , factory
workers, farmers, agricultural labourers and the
intelligentsia.
• Political Hegemony in West Bengal : Has been in power in
West Bengal without a break for 30 years.
• 2014 elections : won about 6 per cent of votes and 43 seats
in the Lok Sabha and supported the UPA government from
outside, without joining the government.
• 2019 Lok Sabha election: the party won 1.75 % votes and won
2 seats
 Bharatiya Janata Party
• Founded in 1980 by reviving the erstwhile
Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
• Aim : Wants to build a strong and modern
India by drawing inspiration from India’s
ancient culture and values .
• Ideological Orientation : Cultural
nationalism (or ‘Hindutva’) is an important
element in its conception of Indian
nationhood and politics.
• Objectives : Wants full territorial and
political integration of Jammu and
Kashmir with India - a uniform civil code
for all people living in the country
irrespective of religion - ban on
religious conversions .
• Areas of support : Its support base increased substantially in the
1990s . Earlier limited to north and west and to urban areas, the
party expanded its support in the south, east, the north-east and
to rural areas .
• History in Parliament : Came to power in 1998 as the leader of the
National Democratic Alliance including se veral state and regional
parties .
• Lost elections in 2004 & it was the principal opposition party in the
Lok Sabha.
• In 2019 election, emerged as the largest party with 303 seats.
• Present Status : Leads the ruling NDA government in the centre
 Bahujan Samaj Party
• Formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi
Ram.
• Party of Bahujan : Seeks to represent and
secure power for the bahujan samaj which
includes the dalits, adivasis, OBCs and
religious minorities - Stands for the cause of
securing the interests and welfare of the
dalits and oppressed people
• Draws inspiration from the ideas and teachings
of Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Periyar
Ramaswami Naicker and Babasaheb
Ambedkar .
• Areas of Support : It has its main base in the state of Uttar
Pradesh and substantial presence in neighbouring states like
Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and
Punjab.
• Formed government in Uttar Pradesh several times by
taking the support of different parties at different times .
• 2014 election : In the Lok Sabha elections held in 2004, it polled
about 5 per cent votes and secured 19 seats in the Lok
Sabha.
• 2019 election : 3.63% votes and 10 seats in lok sabha.
 State Party
• Samajwadi Party , Samata Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal, Biju
Janata Dal, Sikkim Democratic Front and Mizo National Front.
• Over the last three decades, the number and strength of these parties
has expanded.
• No one national party is able to secure on its own a majority in Lok
Sabha. As a result, the national parties are compelled to form
alliances with State parties.
• Since 1996, nearly every one of the State parties has got an
opportunity to be a part of one or the other national level coalition
government.
State parties contributed to the strengthening of
federalism and democracy in our country.
Challenges to Political Parties
 Lack of internal democracy
within parties
• Concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top.
• Parties do not keep membership registers, do not hold
organizational meetings, and do not conduct internal
elections regularly.
• Ordinary members of the party do not get sufficient
information on what happens inside the party.
• As a result the leaders assume greater power to make
decisions in the name of the party.
• Those who disagree with the leadership find it difficult to
continue in the party.
 Dynastic Succession
• The top positions are always controlled by members of
one family.
• This is unfair to other members of that party.
• This is also bad for democracy, since people who do not
have adequate experience or popular support come to
occupy positions of power.
 Money and Muscle power in
parties
• Parties are focussed only on winning elections, they tend to
use short-cuts to win elections.
• They tend to nominate those candidates who have or can
raise lots of money.
• Rich people and companies who give funds to the parties
tend to have influence on the policies and decisions of the
party.
• In some cases, parties support criminals who can win
elections.
 No meaningful choice to
offer
• In recent years there has been a decline in the ideological
differences among parties in most parts of the world.
• The differences among all the major parties on the
economic policies have reduced.
• Those who want really different policies have no option
available to them.
• Sometimes people cannot even elect very different leaders
either, because the same set of leaders keep shifting from
one party to another.
How can Political Parties
be reformed ?
 1. Prevent Defection
• Elected representatives were indulging in DEFECTION in
order to become ministers or for cash rewards.
• If any MP changes parties, he or she will lose the seat in
the legislature.
• Drawback: MPs and MLAs have to accept whatever the
party leaders decide.
 2. Reduce the influence of
money and criminals.
• It is mandatory for every candidate who contests elections
to file an AFFIDAVIT giving details of his property and
criminal cases pending against him.
• A lot of information available to the public regarding the
candidates.
• Drawback: But there is no system to check if the
information given by the candidates is true.
 3. Political parties should hold
their organizational elections
and file their income tax
returns.

• Drawback: Parties have started doing so but sometimes it

is mere formality. It is not clear if this step has led to
greater internal democracy in political parties.
 4. A law should be made to
regulate the internal affairs
of political parties:-
a) compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of
its members
b) to follow its own constitution
c) to have an independent authority
d) to act as a judge in case of party disputes
e) to hold open elections to the highest posts.
 5. Reservation of seats for
women
• It should be made mandatory for political parties to give
a minimum number of tickets, about one-third, to
women candidates.
• There should be a quota for women in the decision
making bodies of the party.
 6. There should be state
funding of elections
• The government should give parties money to support
their election expenses.
• This support could be given in kind: petrol, paper, telephone
etc.
• It could be given in cash on the basis of the votes secured
by the party in the last election.
 Reformation of Political
Party by Citizens
• People can put pressure on political parties through
petitions, publicity and agitations. If political parties feel
that they would lose public support they would become
more serious about reforms.
• Political parties can be improved by joining in political
parties. The problem of bad politics can be solved by more
and better politics.