Political Parties

Name the National Political Parties Chronologically. Write their symbol and manifesto or party program. 

I) Indian National Congress(INC):
Popularly known as the Congress Party. One of the oldest parties in the world. Founded in 1885. 

• Symbol: Palm or Hand

• Manifesto: 

1. The party sought to build a modern secular democratic republic in India. 

2. A centrist party in its ideological orientation, the party espouses secularism and the welfare of weaker sections and minorities. 

3. The INC supports new economic reforms but with a human face. 

II) Communist Party of India(CPI):
Formed in 1925. 

• Symbol: Sickle and Grains

• Manifesto: 

1. Believes in Marxism-Leninism, secularism, and democracy. 

2. Opposed to the forces of secessionism and communalism. 

3. Accepts parliamentary democracy as a means of promoting the interests of the working class, farmers, and the poor.  

III) Communist Party of India-Marxist(CPI-M):
Formed in 1964. 

• Symbol: Sickle, Hammer, and Star

• Manifesto: 

1. Believes in Marxism-Leninism.

2. Supports socialism, secularism, and democracy and opposes imperialism and communalism. 

3. Accepts democratic elections as a useful and helpful means for securing the objective of socioeconomic justice in India. 

4. Critical of the new economic policies that allow the free flow of foreign capital and goods into the country. 

IV) Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP):
Founded in 1980 by reviving the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, formed by Syama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951. 

• Symbol: Lotus

• Manifesto: 

1. Wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from India’s ancient culture and values; and Deendayal Upadhyaya’s ideas of integral humanism and Antyodaya. 

2. Cultural nationalism (or ‘Hindutva’) is an important element in its conception of Indian nationhood and politics. 

3. Wants full territorial and political integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India, a uniform civil code for all people living in the country irrespective of religion, and a ban on religious conversions. 

V) Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP):
Formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram. 

• Symbol: Elephant

• Manifesto: 

1. Seeks to represent and secure power for the Bahujan Samaj which includes the Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, and religious minorities. 

2. Draws inspiration from the ideas and teachings of Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Periyar Ramaswami Naicker, and Babasaheb Ambedkar. 

3. Stands for the cause of securing the interests and welfare of the Dalits and oppressed people. 

VI) All India Trinamool Congress(AITC):
Launched on 1 January 1998 under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. 

• Symbol: Flowers and Grass

• Manifesto: 

1. Committed to secularism and federalism. 

VII) National Congress Party(NCP):
Formed in 1999 following a split in the Congress party. 

• Symbol: Clock

• Manifesto: 

1. Espouses democracy, Gandhian secularism, equity, social justice, and federalism. 

2. Wants that high offices in government be confined to natural-born citizens of the country. 

What are the features of partisanship? 

1. Parties reflect fundamental political divisions in a society. Parties are about a part of the society and thus, involve partisanship. 

2. A partisan is a person who is strongly committed to a party, group, or faction. 

3. Partisanship is marked by a tendency to take a side and an inability to take a balanced view of an issue. 

Why modern democracies can not exist without political parties?
(or)
The rise of political parties is directly linked to the emergence of representative democracies. Give reasons. 

1. Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituency for what they do in the locality. But no one will be responsible for how the country will be run. 

2. As societies became large and complex, they also needed some agency to gather different views on various issues and to present these to the government. 

3. They needed some ways, to bring various representatives together so that a responsible government could be formed. 

4. They needed a mechanism to support or restrain the government, make policies, and justify or oppose them. 

5. Political parties fulfill these needs that every representative government has. We can say that parties are a necessary condition for a democracy. 

Explain the different party systems prevalent in the world today. 

Mono-Party (Single-Party) System: 

1. In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government. These are called one-party systems. 

2. We cannot consider the one-party system as a good option because this is not a democratic option. Eg: China. 

3. Any 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. 

Bi-Party System: 

1. In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties. Several other parties may exist, contest elections and win a few seats in the national legislatures. 

2. But only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning a majority of seats to form the government. Such a party system is called a two-party system. 

3. The United States of America and the United Kingdom are examples of the two-party system. 

Multi-Party System: 

1. 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 multiparty system. Eg: India. 

2. In this system, the government is formed by various parties coming together in a coalition. 

3. When several parties in a multi-party system join hands for the purpose of contesting elections and winning power, it is called an alliance or a front. 

4. Eg: In India, there were three such major alliances in the 2004 parliamentary elections– the National Democratic Alliance, the United Progressive Alliance, and the Left Front. 

5. Advantage: The Multi-Party system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation. 

6. Disadvantage: The multiparty system often appears very messy and leads to political instability. 

Differentiate between national and regional political parties. 

National Political Parties: 

1. There are some country-wide parties, which are called ‘national parties’. These parties have their units in various states. 

2. But by and large, all these units follow the same policies, programmes, and strategy that is decided at the national level. 

3. 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. Eg. The Indian Congress. 

Regional Political Parties: 

1. These are commonly referred to as regional parties. Yet these parties need not be regional in their ideology or outlook. 

2. Some of these parties are all-India parties that happen to have succeeded only in some states. Parties like the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal have national-level political organisations with units in several states. 

3. Some of these parties like Biju Janata Dal, Sikkim Democratic Front, Mizo National Front, and Telangana Rashtra Samithi are conscious about their State identity. 

4. 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. Eg. Telangana Rashtra Samiti. 

Explain the Challenges to Political Parties. 

Lack of Internal Democracy: 

1. All over the world there is a tendency in political parties towards the concentration of power in one or a few leaders at the top. 

2. Parties do not keep membership registers, do not hold organisational meetings, and do not conduct internal elections regularly. 

3. Ordinary members of the party do not get sufficient information on what happens inside the party. 

4. They do not have the means or the connections needed to influence the decisions. As a result, the leaders assume greater power to make decisions in the name of the party. 

5. More than loyalty to party principles and policies, personal loyalty to the leader becomes more important. 

Challenge of Dynastic Succession: 

1. Since most political parties do not practice open and transparent procedures for their functioning, there are very few ways for an ordinary worker to rise to the top of a party. 

2. Those who happen to be leaders are in a position of unfair advantage to favour people close to them or even their family members. 

3. In many parties, the top positions are always controlled by members of one family. 

4. This is unfair to other members of that party. This is also bad for democracy since people who do not have adequate experience or popular support come to occupy positions of power. 

Money and Muscle Power: 

1. There is the growing role of money and muscle power in parties, especially during elections. 

2. Since parties are focussed only on winning elections, they tend to use short-cuts to win elections. 

3. They tend to nominate those candidates who have or can raise lots of money. 

4. Rich people and companies who give funds to the parties tend to have an influence on the policies and decisions of the party. 

5. In some cases, parties support criminals who can win elections. Democrats all over the world are worried about the increasing role of rich people and big companies in democratic politics. 

Lack of Meaningful Choice for the Voters: 

1. In recent years, there has been a decline in the ideological differences among parties in most parts of the world. 

2. For example, the difference between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party in Britain is very little. 

3. They agree on more fundamental aspects but differ only in details on how policies are to be framed and implemented. 

4. In our country too, the differences among all the major parties on the economic policies have reduced. 

5. Those who want really different policies have no option available to them. Sometimes people cannot even elect very different leaders either, because the same set of leaders keeps shifting from one party to another. 

What are the many suggestions often made to reform political parties? 

Lack of Internal Democracy:
It should be made compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of their members, to follow their own constitution, to have an independent authority, to act as a judge in case of party disputes, and to hold open elections to the highest posts. 

Reservations for Women: 

1. It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum number of tickets, about one-third, to women candidates. 

2. Similarly, there should be a quota for women in the decision-making bodies of the party. 

State Funding of Elections: 

1. The government should give parties money to support their election expenses. 

2. 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. 

No Over-Regulations: 

1. Over-regulation of political parties can be counter-productive. This would force all parties to find ways to cheat the law. 

2. Political parties will not agree to pass a law that they do not like. 

Petitions and Agitations: 

1. People can put pressure on political parties. This can be done through petitions, publicity, and agitations. 

2. Political parties can improve if those who want improvement, join political parties. The quality of democracy depends on the degree of public participation.