Political Parties

Summary of the chapter

A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power
in the government.
 Basic Characteristics of a Political Party
(a) Certain organisation
(b) Unity of Purpose
(c) Commitment to adhere to constitutional means
(d) Adhere to its policies when voted to power
 Basic Components of a Political Party
(a) The leaders
(b) The active members
(c) The followers
 Functions of a Political Party
(i) Political parties contest elections.
(ii) Political parties put forward different policies and programmes.
(iii) Political parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country.
(iv) Political parties form and run governments.
(v) Political parities after loosing the election play the role of opposition.
(vi) Political parties shape public opinion.
(vii)Political parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes
implemented by government.
 The Need of the Political Parties in a Democratic government
(a) To form the govt, as in case of no political parties individual will contest election, but
could not form the govt due to the differences in opinion and ideologies.
(b) Political parties form the public opinion on the national and international issues.
(c) Political parties put a check on the ruling party and keep the people informed about the
political activity.
(d) Political parties act as a link between the government and the common people.
 How many parties should we have
A large number of political parties are working in India. More than 750 parties are registered
with the Election Commission of India. Some are regional political parties while a few are
national political parties.
 There are different kinds of party system in the world like Uni-party system, bi-party
system and multiparty system.
 China has Uni-party system.
 USA and UK have bi-party system while in India there is a multi party system.
 Success of a party system in any country depends on so many factors.
 In fact, party system evolves over a long time, depending on the nature of society, its
social and regional divisions, its history of politics and its system of election.
 A National Political Party
A party that secures at least 6% of total votes in Lok Sabha (House of the people) election or
Assembly elections in four states and wins at lest 4 seats in the Lok Sabha.

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 State or Regional Party
A party that secures at least 6% of the total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly
of a state and wins at least 2 seats is recognised as a state party.
 There are six National Parties in India namely.
 Indian National Congress founded in 1885. At present INC is leading the UPA (United
Progressive Alliance) with other political parties.
 Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) founded in 1980. It is leading NDA (National Democratic
Alliance) now a days.
 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founded in 1984 under the leadership of Kansi Ram. It is led
by Mayawati and is very much influential in UP.
 Communist Party of India (CPI) founded in 1925 believes in the Marxism Leninism.
 Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPIM) founded in 1964 believes in Marxism-
Leninism.
 Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founded in 1999 due to a split in the Congress Party.

 The Challenges to Political Parties

(a) Lack of Internal democracy
(b) Dynastic succession
(c) Money and muscle power
(d) Lack of meaningful choice to the voters
 How can party be reformed
1. By executing the anti-defection law strictly.
2. Submission of an affidavit by the candidate giving full details of the property and criminal
cases against him.
3. By passing an order by the Election Commission to all parties to follow democratic rules
within the party.
4. By reserving the seats for women and down trodden sections in the party.
5. By giving funds to the political parties to fight election and to minimise the use of money
and muscle power.
 Partisan
A person who is strongly committed to a party, group or faction.
 Defection
Changing party allegiance from the party on which a person got elected.

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