Meaning of Political Party
• A political party is a group of
people who come together to contest
elections and hold power in the
government.
Functions of a Political Party
• Parties contest elections.
• Parties put forward different
policies and programmes and the
voters choose from them. A party
reduces a vast number of opinions
into a few basic positions which it
supports.
• Parties play a decisive role in
making laws for a country.
• Parties form and run governments.
• Those parties that lose in the
elections play the role of opposition
to the parties in power.
How many Parties should we
have?
• There are three types of party
system a country can have.
One Party System
• Only one party is allowed to control
and run the government.
Two Party System
• Power usually changes between
two main parties.
Multi-Party System
• 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.
Election Commission
• Every party in India has to register
with the Election Commission.
• The Commission treats every party
as equal to the others, but it offers
special facilities to large and
established parties.
• They are given a unique symbol
and are called, “recognised political
parties.
State Parties
• A party that secures at least six
percent of the total votes in an
election to the Legislative Assembly
of a State and wins at least two seats
is recognised as a State party.
National Parties
• A party that secures at least six
percent of the total votes in Lok
Sabha elections or Assembly
elections in four States and wins at
least four seats in the Lok Sabha is
recognised as a national party.
Indian National Congress (INC)
• Popularly known as the Congress
Party.
• Founded in 1885.
• Played a dominated role in Indian
politics, at the national and state
level for several decades after India’s
Independence.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
• Founded in 1980 by reviving the
erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
• Cultural nationalism (or ‘Hindutva’)
is an important element in its
origination of Indian nationhood and
politics.
• Wants full territorial and political
integration of Jammu and Kashmir
with India.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
• Formed in 1984 under the
leadership of Kanshi Ram.
• Seeks to represent and secure
power for the bahujan samaj which
includes the dalits, adivasis, OBCs
and religious minorities.
Communist Party of India -
Marxist (CPI-M)
• Founded in 1964.
• Believes in Marxism- Leninism.
• Supports socialism, secularism and
democracy and opposes imperialism
and communalism.
Communist Party of India (CPI)
• Formed in 1925.
• Believes in Marxism-Leninism,
secularism and democracy.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
• Formed in 1999 following a split in
the Congress party.
• Accepted democracy, Gandhian
secularism, equity, social justice and
federalism.
State Parties
• Other than these six parties, most
of the major parties of the country
are classified by the Election
Commission as ‘State parties’.
Challenges to Political Parties
• Lack of Internal Democracy
• Challenge of Dynastic Succession
• Growing Role of Money and Muscle
Power
• Meaningful choice
How can Parties be reformed?
Recent efforts and suggestions
in India
• The Constitution was amended to
prevent elected MLAs and MPs from
changing parties.
• New law states that if any MLA or
MP changes parties, he or she will
lose the seat in the legislature.
• The Supreme Court passed an
order to reduce the influence of
money and criminals.
The Election Commission passed an
order making it necessary for
political parties to hold their
organisational elections and file their
income tax returns.
Some suggestions to reform
political parties
• A law should be made to regulate
the internal affairs of political parties.
• To give a minimum number of
tickets, about one-third, to women
candidates
• There should be state funding of
elections.
• There are two other ways in which
political parties can be reformed.
