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 Chapter 6: Political Parties
One of the most important tools of democracy is the
political parties of a particular country. The creation of
constitutional designs, electoral politics and
functioning of the government is solely dependent
upon the role of these political parties. Political parties
are made up of several components that have
particular roles to play in shaping up a nation. CBSE
Class 10 Social Science Political Science Chapter 6
throws light on the roles of these political parties and
the components that constitute them.
Meaning of Political Parties
● A cluster of people coming together to participate
in elections and acquire power in the government
is termed as a Political Party.
● The collective wellness of the society is promoted
by them on the basis of an agreement of the
political parties.
● There is a possibility of disagreement of views
between the Political Parties. For this purpose,
people are approached by several parties to
promote their activities.

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 ● They promise to execute the policies by winning
popular support on the basis of the election.
Components of Political Parties
A Political Party is comprised of three (03)
components:
a) The leaders
b) The active members
c) The followers
Operations of Political Parties
The basic operations of political parties are discussed
in the following points:
1) One of the most significant functions of a political
party is to contest elections.
2) Various policies and programmes are put forward by
the political parties and they are elected by the voters
of the country.
3) Parties play a sheet anchor role in making laws of
the country.
4) Government is formed and run by the parties.

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5) The role of the opposition is played by the parties
who have lost the elections.
6) Public opinions are portrayed by the parties.
7) People get access to the Government machinery and
welfare schemes through the parties.

The Necessity of Political Parties

The political parties are required in a particular country
because a party performs all the above-mentioned
functions.
● The elections are contested by the independent
candidates. Hence, it is absurd to imagine one
particular candidate will change the scenario of
the entire country.
● The selected candidate may be held responsible
for a particular constituency, but the whole
country cannot be changed by a candidate.
● A Democratic country is driven by political parties.
● A vast society requires few agencies to assemble
various views on different issues to put them
forward to the government. It is actually needed
to form the government.

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 ● A mechanism to support or control the
government, making policies, justifying or
opposing them is required.
All the above-mentioned facts are fulfilled by the
political parties. Hence, it can be concluded that a
democratic country should require political parties.
The Multi-Party System
Any group of people can independently form a political
party in a democratic country. In most of the country,
there exist a large number of political parties.
● In the case of India, there are 750 Political Parties
registered with the Election Commission of India.
● There are various parties which are locally formed.
All these parties do not participate in the
elections. A few powerful parties generally contest
in the elections and form the government.
● Few countries in the world are governed by only
one political party. This is termed as a one-party
system. China is a major example of this kind of
party system.
● In some other countries, power is generally
divided between two major political parties. Other
parties may contest and win over the local

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 elections. But, the power of a country must be
exercised by any one of the two major political
parties. The USA and the UK are examples of this
kind of system. This is termed as a two-party
system.
● On the other hand, India exercises a multi-party
system. In a multi-party system, there are a large
number of parties that contest elections and
sometimes the government is formed by different
parties coming together in a coalition. If various
parties come together for participating in the
election and winning power it is termed as an
alliance or front.
National Political Parties
In a federal system, there exist two types of political
parties:
a) Parties representing only one of the federal
sectors
b) Parties representing the different or all sectors of
the federation
There are some salient features of the party system in
India. These are pointed out in the following:

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 ● Scholars like Morris Jones describe the Indian
party system as “one-party dominance” which
started with the dominant rule of the Congress
party.
● There is always a lack of opposition party that is
strong and well-organized
● The members of the party can often and rapidly
change the party structure as and when required
● The role of the leader is highly valued in the Indian
party system which refers to the personality cult
politics. Death or substitution or resignation of a
prominent and charismatic leader causes a decline
in the party performance
● Regional parties are also on the rise with Akali Dal,
Shiv Sena being the prominent names.
This structure prevails in India. The country-wide
parties are termed as the National Parties. It is
necessary for a political party to get registered with the
Election Commission of India.
● Each and every party in the country gets equal
treatment from the Election Commission of India.
But, few parties get some special facilities on the
basis of their structure and establishment.

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 ● If at least 6% of the total votes are secured by a
political party in an election to the Legislative
Assembly of a State and minimum two seats are
won then the party is recognised as a State Party.
● On the other hand, if at least 6% of the total votes
in Lok Sabha elections or Assembly elections in
four states are secured by a political party and
minimum four seats are won in the Lok Sabha,
then it is recognised as a National Party.
The popular National Parties in India are as follows:
Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress, popularly recognised as
Congress Party is the oldest political party in India. It
was established in the year 1885. The party has played
a huge role in the political field of India. The main
motto of the party is to promote secularism and
welfare of weaker sections of the minorities.

During the Indian independence movement, the INC

took the leading position under the guidance and
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. The party follows the
Gandhian principle of “Sarvodaya” which means uplift
of people from all sections of the society, especially the
socially marginalised and economically underprivileged

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people. After independence in 1947, the central
government was formed by Congress along with some
state governments. India got six Prime Ministers from
this party. They are Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur
Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P. V. Narasimha
Rao and Manmohan Singh.
After 1947, the first general election of India was held
in 1952 and Congress came to power in state
legislatures (most of the states) and the national
parliament. All three general elections of 1951-52,
1957 and 1962 were won by Jawaharlal Nehru and he
continued to be the Prime Minister till his death in
1964. The power was uninterrupted till 1977 when the
Janata coalition defeated the party. But again in 1980,
congress regained power and continued to rule as the
central government till 1989.

Bharatiya Janata Party

Bharatiya Janata Party, popularly known as BJP is
another significant national party as far as the political
scenario of India is concerned. Cultural Nationalism is
promoted by the party. The National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) is formed with several parties under the
leadership of BJP.

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Bahujan Samaj Party
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was established in the year
1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram. The main
focus of the party is to win seats by promoting the
minorities of the country.
Communist Party of India (CPI-M)
CPI-M was established in 1964. The supporters of the
party are mainly the followers of Marx and Lenin.
Socialism, Secularism and Democracy are favoured by
the party. On the other hand, CPI-M strongly opposes
Imperialism and Communalism.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
Nationalist Congress Party, popularly known as NCP,
was established in the year 1999 with an eye to
promoting democracy, Gandhian secularism, equity,
federalism and social justice.
Popular State-Level Political Parties
Apart from the above-mentioned national parties
along with few others, all the other parties are
characterized as state parties by the Election
Commission of India. These parties are also known as
regional parties of India.

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 ● State parties are generally oriented in some
particular states. A few examples of state-level
parties are Samata Party, All India Trinamool
Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal,
Sikkim Democratic Front, and Mizo National Front
etc.
● These parties play a significant role in every
election.
● Gradually, the state parties are making their marks
in the policymaking of the country. The national
parties form the government with the help of the
state parties by making an alliance with them.
● The federal structure of India ensures the
importance and role of state parties informing the
government. A strong democracy is also ensured
by the existence of state parties.

Important Questions and Answers

Q1. In what ways can the Political Parties be
reformed?
Ans. Political Parties can be reformed in the following
ways:

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a) Elected MLAs and MPs are restricted from changing
parties by the amendment of Indian Constitution.
b) A verdict was given by the Honourable Supreme
Court to prevent the influence of money and muscle
power in the elections.
c) Organizational elections and filing income tax
returns of political parties were made mandatory by
the Election Commission of India.
d) The internal affairs of the Political Parties should be
regulated by law.
e) Women candidates must get relaxation in contesting
elections.
f) State funding of elections is another way of
reforming the political parties.

Q2. What are the challenges of the political Parties?

Ans. The challenges faced by political parties are:
● Intra-party lack of internal democracy.
● There does not exist any scope for an ordinary
worker of a party to achieve the topmost position
of the party.

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 ● The involvement of money and muscle power in
the party is increasing day by day.
● Meaningful choice is not offered to the voters by
the Political Parties.

Q3. What is the basic reason behind the crisis faced

by the political parties?
The main reason behind the facing of crisis by the
political parties is that most of them are unpopular and
most of the citizens are indifferent to the parties.
According to a report, most of the political parties of
South Asia are very much unpopular. Despite very
much involvement of the political parties in various
activities in the country, people have lost their faith
upon the actions of the parties. Now, the loss of faith is
due to several reasons. The main reason is corruption
as far as the political scenario of India is concerned.

Q4. What is the significance of the Communist Party

of India (CPI) as a National Party of India?
Communist Party of India (CPI) was established in
1925. This party mainly contains the followers of

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Marxism-Leninism, secularism and democracy. They
strongly oppose the powers of secessionism and
communalism. They fight for the lower-middle-class
people such as the working class, farmers etc. The
party is very much active in the states like West Bengal,
Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Q5. What is the ideology of Chinese Politics?

One-party system prevails in Chinese politics. Only the
Communist party is permitted to rule in China. People
of China can independently from any political party in
pen and paper mode only. But, free competition is not
allowed by the electoral system of the country. Since it
is not a democratic form of government, the one-party
system cannot be considered as a good system.
Autocratic form of government is raised on the basis of
the one-party system.

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