POLITICAL PARTIES
MEANING
• A political party is a political organization of
people who come together to contest election
and control political power
COMPONENTS
• Three components of a political party are:
the leaders
the active members
the followers
FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTIES
• Contest elections by putting up their candidates
• Frame policies and programes to attract general
public
• Play decisive role in the law making process in the
parliament
• Form and run the govt
• Play the role of opposition when not in majority
• Shape public opinion by raising and highlighting
public issues
• Provide access to the govt machinery and welfare
schemes through local party leaders
IMPORTANCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES
WITHOUT POLITICAL PARTIES:
• Every candidate in the elections will be
independent. No promises could be made and
the utility of the govt formed will remain
uncertain
• No one will be responsible for running the
country. Elected representatives will only be
accountable to their constituency
• There will be no agency to gather and present
different views on various issues to the govt
• No one will be responsible for bringing various
representatives together so as to form a
responsible govt
• There will be no mechanism to support the
govt, make policies and justify or oppose them
TYPES OF PARTY SYSTEM
ONE-PARTY SYSTEM
• Only one party is allowed to control and run
the govt
• Communist party in China is the best example
of one-party system
TWO-PARTY SYSTEM
• Power usually changes between two main
parties
• Other parties may exist, contest elections and
win only a few seats
• The United States of America and the United
Kingdom are the examples of two-party
system
MULTI-PARTY SYSTEM
• More than two parties have a reasonable
chance of coming together to form the govt
• Coalition govt and alliance system are the
specific feature of multiparty system
• India is the best example of multiparty system
• Alliance –When several parties in a multiparty
system join hands for the purpose of
contesting elections and winning power, it is
called an alliance.
KINDS OF POLITICAL PARTIES
NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES
• They are the countrywide parties having their
units in several states
• They follow almost the same policies and
programmes to be followed at the national level
• A party that secures at least six percent of the
total votes in Lok Sabha and wins at least 4 seats
in the Lok Sabha election is recognised as a
national party
STATE OR REGIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES
• These are present in only one of the federal
units
• State parties have their own policies,
programmes and strategy to be at the state or
regional level
• A party that secures at least six percent of the
total votes in an election to Legislative
Assembly and wins at least two seats is
recognised as a state party
RECOGNITION TO A POLITICAL PARTY
• Every party has to register with the Election
Commission
• All parties are treated equally by the Election
Commission
• Special facilities and a unique symbol are given
to large and established parties
• Such parties get registered by the Election
Commission and are called recognized political
parties
NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES OF INDIA
AAM AADMI PARTY (AAP)
• Formed on 26 November 2012
• The party was founded on the idea of
accountability, clean administration, transparency
and good governance
• In 2013 AAP emerged as the 2nd largest party in
Delhi legislative assembly election
• AAP formed governments in Punjab and Delhi
• In 2019 election it secured 1 seat in the Lok Sabha
BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY (BSP)
• Formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram
• Aims to represent and secure power for the bahujan
samaj, including the dalits, adivasis, other backward
communities and religious minorities
• Follows ideas and teachings of Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma
Phule, Periyar Ramaswami Naicker and Baba Saheb
Ambedkar
• Has its main base in Uttar Pradesh and formal presence in
Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and
Punjab
• Formed government in Uttar Pradesh by taking support of
different parties of different times
• In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BSP secured 10 seats in
BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY (BJP)
• Founded in 1980
• Revived from Bharatiya Jana Sangh, formed by Syama
Prasad Mukkarji in 1951
• Stresses modern India on the basis of ancient Indian
culture and values
• Hindutva is its basic element
• Favours political integration of Jammu and Kashmir with
India, a uniform civil code and a ban on religious
conversions
• Formed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 1998
• Emerged as the largest party with 303 members in the
2019 Lok Sabha elections
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA MARXIST (CPI-M)
• Founded in 1964
• Believes in Marxism-Leninism and supports socialism,
secularism, and democracy
• Opposes imperialism and communalism, and accepts
democratic elections as the means for securing the
objectives of socio-economic justice in India
• Enjoys strong support in West Bengal, Kerala and
Tripura, especially among the poor, factory workers,
farmers etc
• Opposes the new economic policies and free trades
• Has been in power in west Bengal without a break for
34 years
INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC)
• Oldest political party of the world, founded in 1885
• Dominated Indian politics at national and state levels
• Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the party
built modern secular democratic republic in India
• Ruled from 1947 to 1977, 1980 to 1989, and 2004 to
2014
• Favours secularism and welfare of weaker sections
and minorities
• Supports new economic reforms
• Formed United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2004
• In 2019 Lok Sabha election it won 52 seats
NATIONALIST PEOPLE’S PARTY (NPP)
• Formed in July 2013 under the leadership of
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• NPP is the first political party from the north east
India to attain the status of national party
• Believes in diversity of the country and recognizes
that different regions have different developmental
challenges
• Its core philosophy is education and employment to
all sections of the society
• Formed a government in Meghalaya and has
presence in many of north eastern states.
• In 2019 election NPP secured 1 seat in the Lok Sabha
STATE PARTIES
• The Election Commission recognizes some
parties as state parties or regional parties
• Over the last three decades the number and
strength of this parties has expanded
Ex: Samajwadi party and Rashtriya Janata
party, Biju Janata Dal, All India Forward Bloc
CHALLENGES TO POLITICAL PARTIES
LACK OF INTERNAL DEMOCRACY
• Concentration of power in one or few leaders
at the top
• No record of membership registers
• No regular internal elections
• Ordinary members of the party do not get
sufficient information
• Personal loyalty to the leaders becomes more
important than loyalty to the party
DYNASTIC SUCCESSION
• Leader of the party favour people close to
them or even their family members
• In many parties, the top positions are always
controlled by members of one family
• As a result people who do not have adequate
experience or popular support come to
occupy positions of power
• Dynastic succession, in some way or the other,
is present all over the world even in some of
the older democracies
GROWING ROLE OF MONEY AND MUSCLE POWER
• Nowadays, the role of money and muscle power is
growing in parties
• Most of the parties are focused only on winning
elections, so they tend to use short-cuts to win
elections
• Sometimes, candidates are nominated on the basis
of their money and muscle power. Rich people and
companies give funds to the parties and tend to
influence the policies and decisions of the party
• In some cases, parties support criminals who can
win elections
LACK OF MEANINGFUL CHOICE
• In the present democratic scenario, no party
offers a meaningful choice to the voters
• Recently, there has been a decline in the
ideological differences among parties in most
parts of the world
• Those who want really different policies have
no option available to them
• For instance, the difference between the
Labour Party and the Conservative Party in
Britain is very little
HOW CAN PARTIES BE REFORMED
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ANTI-DEFECTION LAW
• The constitution was amended to prevent
elected MLAs and MPs from changing parties,
i.e. from indulging in defection
• According to law, if any MLA or MP changes
parties, he or she will lose seat in the
legislature
AFFIDAVIT
• In order to reduce the influence of money and
muscle power the Supreme Court has made it
mandatory to file an affidavit
• The affidavit by each candidate will give details
of property and criminal cases pending against
him
MANDATORY ORGANISATIONAL MEETINGS
• The election commission passed an order
making it mandatory for political parties to hold
their organisational meetings and elections
• Some parties have started organising elections
but most of the time it is a mere formality
2. SUGGESTIONS
LAWS TO BE MADE TO REGULATE INTERNAL
AFFAIRS
• It should be made compulsory for political
parties to maintain a register of its members
and to follow its own constitution
SEATS TO BE RESERVED FOR WOMEN
• It should be made mandatory to give a
minimum number of tickets to women
• There should be a quota for women in
decision making bodies of the party
STATE FUNDING OF ELECTIONS
• The govt should give parties money to support
their election expenses
• It should be in kind (petrol,paper or telephone)
or cash (based on the votes secured by the
party in the last election)
PRESSURE TO BE PUT
• People can put pressure on political parties
through petitions, publicity and agitations
JOIN POLITICAL PARTIES
• Those who want to make changes should join
political parties