Political Parties in India

                 

          POLITICAL PARTIES IN INDIA

Dear students, in this chapter we are going to study about following topics :

1) Introduction

2) Types of party system.

3)Features of a political party.

4) Functions of a political party.

5)Chronology of the formation of political parties in India.

6) Some National political parties in India.

7) Causes behind the formation of regional parties in India.

8) Regional political parties in India.

9) Contributions of the regional political parties towards Indian Democracy.

10)Role / Functions of opposition in democracy.

11) Alliance or Coalition Government.

12) Significance of Alliance Government at present.

13) Demerits of the Alliance Government.

14) Merits of the Alliance Government.

Introduction:

With the dawn of democracy, the political party came into existence in every democratic state. Gradually, it became a part and parcel of the system of democratic governance.

Why democracy and the political party are complementary to each other?

At present democracy and the political party are complementary to each other. As without the political party democracy is useless, similarly without democracy political party is meaningless. Political party works as a link between the ruler and the public. It also brings the common people closer to the administration.

How many types of party system are there?

There are mainly three types of party system exist among the democratic States. They are -

                1) One party or single party system:In this system, there is only one political party . For example,in China there is only one political party and that is the Communist Party of China.

                 But the state having one party rule is generally not to be regarded as true democratic state although it claims to be a democratic state.

                   2) Bi-party system:In Bi-party system there are two main political parties, (one  is the ruling party and another is the opposition party). This system is more stable and strong. This system is found in the countries like the USA and England.

                   3) Multi party system:In this system, we found so many political parties .This system is found in the countries like Bangladesh , India, Pakistan etc. However, the states where multi- party system is exists is regarded as the actual democratic state.

Now, What are the main features/ characteristcs of a political party?

Political parties are indispensable for a democratic state. They must have some characteristics of its own. In a democratic state the most essential characteristics of a political party are --

1) Organisation:The primary and most essential feature of a political party is organisation. To form a political party the members of the respective party need to organise themselves.

2) Principle, ideals and planning

3)Aspiration for capturing power

4) Regards for national interest

                  These are the basic characteristics of a political party.

What are the functions of the political party?

In a democratic state, the functions of the political party are -

1) Political party try to educate the common people by giving political instructions.

2) It try to develop political awareness among the mass people.

3) It try to mould public opnion.

4) Transformation of public opinion into reality is another major function of the political party.

5) It also responsible to build a congenial atmosphere where the mass people can take part in the process of government formation.

             These are the main functions of the political party.

Chronology of the formation of the political parties in India:

1)Indian National Congress: The INC was formed in the year of 1885 under the leadership of a retired I.C.S. officer Allen Octavian Hume. It was the first political party of India . Woomesh Chandra Banerjee  was the first president of the Indian National Congress and under his chairmanship the very first session of the Indian National Congress was held at Mumbai.

2) Muslim League: The Muslim is the second political party in India. It came into existence in the year of 1906.

3) Hindu Mahasabha: The Hindu Mahasabha war the third political party and it was formed in 1916.

4) Swaraj Party: The fourth national party was the Swaraj Party. It was established under the leadership of Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru in the year 1922 ans subsquently it merged with the Indian National Congress.

5) Communist party of India: It was the fifth political party of pre-independent India.It was established in the year 1924 , with the philosophy and ideals of communism of Karl Marx.

 6) In 1938 the Socialist Forum came into existence with the ideals of communism within the Indian National Congress. After independence it came to be known as the Socialist party of India.

                    After independence there was a sudden spate of forming political parties in India. There were more than 50 political parties were participated in the first general election held in 1952.Gradually , other political parties like the Swatantra Party,  the Indian Revolutionary Party, the Jana Sangh, the Communist Party(Marxist) , the Janata Party, the Lokdal, the Bharatiya Janata Party etc appeared on the political scene in India.

Some National Political Parties of India:

1) Indian National Congress (INC)

2) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

3)Communist Party of India (CPI)

4) Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M))

5) Trinamool Congress

6) Aam Aadmi Party etc.

Now , what are the causes behind the formation of regional political parties?

The birth of regional political parties in India is a significant aspect of the Indian political party system. It was started with the formation of the Dravida Munnetra Kajhagam (D.M.K.) in Tamilnadu. 

                 There are several causes behind the formation of the regional political parties in India. these are the following -

1) The discriminatory views, attitudes and principles of the All India national parties.

2) Linguistic and religious diversity of the people living in different parts of the country.

3) The insecure feelings among the minorities.

4) The  government's policy for centralization of power and to gain the sole rights of the invaluable various resources of the different states.

5) The lack of equal justification of the union government towards all states.

6) The weaknesses of the regional leaders belonging to the national parties or the union government. etc.

Regional political parties of India:

1) DMK, AIDMK in Tamil Nadu.

2) Akalidal in Punjab.

3) Telegu Desam in Andhra Pradesh.

4) National Conference in Jammu & Kashmir.

5)Asom Gana Parishad in Assam.

6) Mizo National Front in Mizoram.

7) Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

8) Nagaland People's Conference in Nagaland.

9) Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand.

The contributions of the regional political parties towards Indian Democracy:

The major contributions are -

1)The birth of regional parties in India has thrown a great challenge to the significance of the one party rule in the country.

2) The birth of regional political parties in India has brought a positive aspect in the centre-state relations.

3) The birth of the regional political parties has made it possible for the people of the grass- root level to participate more actively in the politics of the country.

4) They strengthened the democratic thinking and functioning by delimiting the hegemony of the All India national political parties at centre.

What are the role/functions of opposition party in democracy?

In a democratic country the role of opposition is very significant. Without a strong opposition a democratic state cannot achieve its success.

                 In India the role of opposition party mainly starts from 1977 . But , in USA and UK ,there has a strong opposition.

                 Mainly the functions of the opposition in a democratic state are as follows -

1) The opposition party need to work as a watch dog in order to safeguard  the interests of the mass people .

2) The ongoing and upcoming schemes , plans and programmes of the government are to be scrutinized properly by the opposition. If found anything not in order, the opposition must bring them to the light on the floor of the Parliament through constructive criticism.

3) To remain well prepared to form alternative government as and when such necessity and situation arise.

4) To mould public opinion in an effective manner.

5) To remove the differences between the government and the mass people.

6) To increase political awareness in the mind of the mass people by giving them political education.

7) To make the government alert, responsible and accountable towards public opinion.

8) It works as a link between the mass people and the government.

 

What is Alliance or Coalition Government?

When any single political party fails to form government for not getting absolute majority in the General elections, then a few minded political parties come together by making an alliance and they form the government. Such a government is known as the Alliance government or Coalition Government.

                   In India we have mainly two types of coalition governments. They are - 

1) UPA ( United Progressive Alliance)

2) NDA (National Democratic Alliance)

                    From the 1947 to to year 1967 the INC continued its one party rule both at the center and in the provinces. In India the coalition government starts from 1977 with the Primeministership of the late Morarji Desai.

Why the coalition government system is getting special significance at present?

At present the coalition government system is getting special significance . There are various reasons for this. They are -

1) Due to increase in the number of political parties.

2) Due to decrease in the significance of a single political party.

3) After spending so many thousands of crores of public money in holding an election if no stable government can be formed due to the complexities that arise for not getting the absolute majority by any one parties , then forming of the alliance government is the only alternative left to avoid spending of public money again by holding another election.

4)  The proper representation of different regions also gets prominence in forming such an Alliance government.

The Demerits of the Coalition Government:

The demerits of the Coalition Government are -

1) Unstable and short - lived: Instability is the greatest limit of this government.There is the possibility that the parties forming the Alliance to form the government may withdraw their support to the government , whenever their party interest is at stake.

2) Weak Government: Another demerit of this government is it is an weak government. Sometimes ,it cannot give equal status to all member parties to fulfill their interests.

3) Difficulty in adopting any long time scheme: As the alliance government is weak and unstable in relation to its existence , so no long time measures and schemes can be adopted for implementation.

4) Ambitions of the member parties: The members political parties has sole aim to obtain political gains and benefit in most of the time. The selfish interests of such power mongering political leaders make the government an anti- people one.

5) Threat to National Interest: In order to form a coalition government sometimes parochial and regional considerations as well as some communal forces have to be accommodated and given preference. As a result there is fear for national interest getting affected.

6) Expensive: Another demerits of Coalition government is expensive. It is expensive due to over size of the ministry.

Merits of the Alliance Government:

                                      

                  

The merits of the Alliance Government are -

1) Situational: It is suitable for the requirement of the situations and time. It is essential in the changing situations and political environment to sustain the political stability in a big state like India.

2)Non autocratic government: Another merit  of this government is it is not an autocratic government.

3)Regional representation: In an Alliance government different regions and various castes and communities get better representation.

4) Safeguarding national unity and integrity: The Alliance government brings various political parties into one platform and they do not strictly stick to their own ideas, ideals and principles.So national unity and national integration is strengthened.

5) Reducing misuse of public money: Reducing misuse of public money is another merit of this type of government.