Political parties Chapter- 6, Civics Class-X ० A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power...
Political parties
Chapter- 6, Civics
• They agree on some policies and programmes for the society with a view to promote the collective good.
A political party has three components:
i) The leaders,
ii) The active members and
iii) The followers
• Parties are about a part of the society and thus involve partisanship.
• Partisan: a person who is strongly committed to a party group or faction.
० FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTY:
i) Contesting Elections: Political parties contest elections. A political party nominates its candidate for the electoral contest in various constituencies.
ii) Policies: Political parties put forward different policies and programmes so that the voters can choose from them. (Who will make the law for them)
iii) Making Law: Political parties play a decisive role in making laws for the country. As most of the parliamentarians belong to political parties, so a political party has direct say in law making for the country.
iv) Formation of Government: Political parties form and run governments. The executive body is formed by people from the ruling party.
v) Playing Opposition: A party which does not get majority or come under the majority coalition, needs to play the role of opposition. It keeps an eye on the ruling government. Criticizes them and mobilizes opposition to ruling party.
vi) Shaping Public Opinion: Political parties shape public opinion. They do so by raising and demands highlighting issues in the legislature and in the media.
vii) Providing Access to Government Machinery: Political parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes implemented by governments. Parties need to be responsive to people's needs and demands.
० NECESSITY OF POLITICAL PARTY
ii) An independent candidate would always be more interested in the specific needs of his constituency.
iii) Would seldom think about the larger interest of the nation.
iv) A political party is necessary to bring diverse people on a common platform, so that bigger issues can be taken care of.
० REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
• In this system, governance is done through people's representative because it is impossible for each citizen to directly participate a governance.
• The need for representative democracy has given rise to political parties.
• As societies have become more heterogeneous and population of counties have expanded, this has created the need for people who can take decisions on people's behalf.
० PARTY SYSTEM
• In some countries only one party is allowed to control and run the government, e.g. China. These are called one-party systems.
• It is not considered democratic since a 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.
ii) Two party system
• In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties. Such a party system is called two-party system.
• The United States of America and the United Kingdom are examples of two-party system.
iii) 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, we call it a multi-party system.
• Thus in India, we have a multi-party system.
• After the 1996 general elections, no single party has been able to secure even a simple majority.
• The multi-party system is apparently very messy and it often leads to political instability. • But we should acknowledge the fact that it allows various interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.
० Evolution Of Party System In Any Country
b) It depends on the nature of society, social and regional diversities.
c) It also depends on its history of politics and its system of elections.
d) India is a country of huge geographical and social diversity. Such diversity may not be easily accommodated by two or even three parties.
e) It is quite natural that a multi-party system has evolved in India.
f) We should keep in mind that each system has its pros and cons.
० POPULAR PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL PARTIES
ii) Political parties are one of the least trusted institutions all over the world.
iii) Yet the level of participation in the activities of political parties was fairly high. The proportion of those who said they were members of some political party was higher in India than many developed countries like Canada, Japan, Spain and South Korea.
iv) Over the last three decades the proportion of those who report to be members of political parties in India has gone up steadily.
v) The proportion of those who say they feel 'close to a political party' has also gone up in India in this period.
० RECOGNIZED PARTIES
• While the Commission treats all parties equally, It offers some special facilities to large and established parties. These parties are given a unique symbol - only the official candidates of that party can use that election symbol.
• Parties that get this privilege and some other special facilities are 'recognized' by the Election Commission for this purpose. That is why these parties are called, 'recognized political parties'.
• As per latest publication dated 23 September 2021 from ECI, the total number of parties registered was 2858, with 8 national parties, 54 state parties and 2796 unrecognised parties.
० CRITERION GIVEN BY EC
• State Party: A party that secures at least 6 per cent of the total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a State and wins at least two seats is recognized as a State party.
(6% votes in state legislative Assembly + at least 2seats)
• National Party: A party that secures at least six per cent of total votes in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in four States and wins at least four seats in the Lok Sabha is recognized as a national party According to this classification, there were Eight national recognized parties in the country in 2021.(7 in 2018).
{(6% votes in Loksabha election / 6%votes in assembly elections in four states) + at least 4 seats in Loksabha)
० NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES
i) Indian National Congress (INC): Hand
• Oldest party - formed in 1885
• Involved in the freedom struggle.
• Centrist in its ideology.
• Espouses secularism
• Welfare of weaker sections and minorities
• Emerged as largest party in 2004 Lok Sabha elections- completed two terms in office, i.e.10 years
• Leader of United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
ii) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): Lotus
• Goal- to build strong and modern India (inspiration from India's ancient culture and values, integral humanism and Antyodaya.
• Promotes cultural nationalism (or 'Hindutva)
• Wants full territorial and political integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India.
• Demands uniform civil code
• Party came to power in 1998 and remained in power till 2004 (NDA)
• This party stormed back to power in centre in 2014.
• Leader of National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
iii) Communist Party of India (CPI): Ears of Corn and Sickle
• Philosophy- Marxism-Leninism, secularism and democracy.
• Opposed the forces of secessionism and communalism.
• After the split in the party in 1964 it led to the formation of the CPI (M).
• Significant presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• Advocates the coming together of all left parties to build a strong left front.
iv) Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M): Hammer, Sickle and Star
• Same philosophy as CPI.
• It supports socialism, secularism.
• Enjoys strong support in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.
• Famous among the poor, factory workers, farmers, agricultural labourer and the intelligentsia.
• Was in power in West Bengal for 34 years without a break.
v) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP): Elephant
• Seeks to represent and secure power for the bahujan Samaj which includes the dalits, adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities.
• Inspired by teachings of Mahatma Phule,Periyar Ramaswami Naicker and B.R Ambedkar.
• Has good presence in Uttar Pradesh and has been in power in UP for a couple of terms.
vi) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP): Clock
• Espouses democracy, Gandhian secularism, equity, social justice and federalism.
• Wants high office in government to be confined to natural born citizens of the country.
• This is a major party in Maharashtra and has a significant presence in Meghalaya, Manipur and Assam.
vii) All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) : Flowers and Grass
• Recognised as a National Party in 2016.
• Committed to secularism and federalism.
• Mostly active in West Bengal (In power in WB since 2011).
viii)* National People's Party (NPP) : Book
• Got National party status in 2019
• First Political party from Northeastern India to have attain National Party Status.
• Influence is mostly concentrated in the state of Meghalaya.
(* not given in NCERT)
• Has made Indian parliament politically more diverse.
• Gives support to national parties to form government.
• Every state party has got a chance to enter into national level alliance.
• Has strengthened federalism and democracy
• This is a sign of expansion and deepening of democracy in India.
•JDU, RJD, Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, AIADMK, DMK, etc. are examples of regional parties.
Some of the challenges which the political parties face are as follows:
• Membership registers are not maintained
• Ordinary members of the party do not get a chance to come up.
• The top leadership is often disconnected with the grassroots workers.
• Loyalty to the policies and principles of the party has less value than the loyalty to the top leadership.
ii) Challanges of Dynastic Succession:
• A person born in a particular family becomes the leader by virtue of his birth; Not the sign of a healthy democracy.
• This tendency is present in most of the political parties in India.
• This is not the case India alone, but in many other countries as well.
iii) Money and Muscle Power:
• Spends huge sum of money on electioneering. • Nominates candidates who can raise money.
• Rich people who give funding often influence the decisions and policies.
• Parties often take help of criminals and gives them ticket.
iv) Lack of a Meaningful Choice:
• Most of the political parties sound similar to one another.
• In some states, the party in power just changes every five year but people seldom experience change on the ground.
० WAYS TO REFORM POLITICAL PARTIES:
i) Anti-defection Law:
• This new law has helped bring defection down.
• It has made any dissent even more difficult.
• MPs and MLAs have to accept whatever the party leaders decide.
ii) Details of Property and Criminal Proceedings during Nomination:
• The new system has made a lot of information available to the public.
• But there is no system of check if the information given by the candidates is true.
iii) Mandatory Organizational Elections and IT Returns:
• It necessary for political parties to hold their organizational elections and file their income tax returns.
iv) Suggestions for Future:
2. It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum number of tickets, about one-third, to women candidates.
3. 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. Or it could be given in cash on the basis of the votes secured by the party in the last election.
4. People can put pressure on political parties and this can be done through petitions, publicity and agitations.
5. Ordinary citizens, pressure groups and movements & media can play an important role in this.
6. . Political parties can improve if those who want this join politics. As the quality of participation democracy depends upon the degree of participation.
I hope this will help you.
Don't hesitate to ask (comment) any question or give any suggestion.
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