Political Parties.

 What are Political parties? On what basis they are formed?

Political parties can be defined as voluntary associations or organised group of

individuals who share the same political views which means that they have common
ideology and those who tried to gain political power through constitutional means that is
to win elections to form government, and who desire to work for promoting the national
interest.

 Types of Political parties in the modern democratic state.

1. Conservative Parties
2. Liberal Parties
3. Reactionary Parties
4. Radical Parties

On the basis of ideologies, the political parties are classified into Left , Central and Right.
Political scientists have placed a Radical parties on the left and the Liberal parties in the
centre whereas the reactionary or conservative parties are kept on the right. We can
consider CPI or CPI ( M ) in the left parties, Indian National Congress in the Centre
Whereas BJP in the category of Right.

 Party system in world.

There are three kinds of party systems in the world:

(i) The one party system in which only one party rules and no opposition party is
permitted. The Soviet Union was an example of one party system.
(ii) Two-party system on which two major parties exist. For example the Republicans
and the Democrats in the United States.
(iii) Multi-party system on which there are a number of political parties lead to the
formation of coalition governments. India, France and Switzerland are examples of
multi-party systems.
 Party system in India.

(i) Multi-party system

We know that our country has a continental size and India is a very diverse country
where there are people from various different groups on the basis of language,
religion, caste, creed etc. Moreover we have adopted universal adult franchise and due
to the following of peculiar type of political process which includes the election of
Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Vice president, State Legislative Assembly . All these
factors have given rise to a number of political parties due to which India has multi-
party system.

(ii) One dominant party system

Despite of the fact that Indian political system has adopted multi-party system but the
political scenario in India was dominated for a long period of time by Indian National
Congress. Hence, Rajni Kothari an eminent political analyst preferred to call the
Indian party system as one party dominant system or the congress system.

(iii) Lack of clear ideology

Except the BJP and 2 communist parties which CPI and CPM, most of the other
parties do not have a clear cut ideology. Which means that all other political parties
are ideologically somehow similar or closer to each other. They have a close
resemblance in their policies and programs, and almost every party advocates for
democracy, secularism, socialism, and Gandhi’s ideology. More than that, in today’s
time every party including the so called ideological parties are guided on only one
principle that is of power capturing.

(iv)Personality cult

In many cases the political parties which are organised are done around an eminent
leader who becomes at times more important than the party itself and its ideology.
Parties are known by their leaders rather than their manifesto, and it is a fact that the
popularity of the Congress was mainly due to the leadership of Nehru, Indira Gandhi,
and Rajiv Gandhi ; similarly BJP nowadays is associated with Narendra Modi.

Also we can consider AIDMK in Tamil Nadu and TDP in Andhra Pradesh which got
identified with MG Ramachandran and NT Rama Rao respectively moreover similar
parties bear the name of their leaders like Biju Janata Dal for BJD.
Recognition of National and State parties

 The election commission of India registers political parties of elections and grants
them recognition as national and state parties on the basis of their poll performance or
election performance the other parties who are neither in the category of national
party or state party are simply declared as registered unrecognised parties.
 Recognition granted by the Commission to the party determines their right to certain
privileges like allocation of the party symbols, provision of time for political
broadcast in the state owned television and radio stations and access to electoral rolls.
 Every National Party is allotted as symbol exclusively released reserved for its use
throughout the country similarly every state party is allowed a symbol exclusively
released for its huge in the state or state in which it is so recognised.
 Registered unrecognised party on the other hand can select a symbol from a list of
free symbols.

 Criteria for becoming a National Party

 It is ‘recognised’ in four or more states; or

 If its candidates have secured at least 6% of total valid votes in at least 4 states
(in latest Lok Sabha or Assembly elections) and the party has at least 4 MPs
in the last LS polls; or
 If it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the LS from at least 3 states.

 Criteria for becoming a State party ,to be recognised as a state party, a party
need:

(i) If it secures at least 6% vote-share in the last Assembly election and have at
least 2 MLAs; or
(ii) have 6% vote-share in the last Lok Sabha elections from that state and at least
one MP from that state; or
(iii) at least 3% of the total number of seats or three seats, whichever is more, in
the last Assembly elections; or
(iv)at least one MP for every 25 members or any fraction allotted to the state in
the Lok Sabha; or
(v) have at least 8% of the total valid votes in the last Assembly election or Lok
Sabha election from the state.

 DMK in Tamil Nadu, BJD in Odisha, YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh, RJD in Bihar, TRS
in Telangana are the names of some of the state political parties.
Regional Parties
 The presence of a large number of regional parties is an important feature of the
Indian political system because they have come to play a vital role in Indian politics
at all levels, that is local, state, and national. This is more so in the context of the new
era of coalition politics.

Features of Regional Parties.

 It generally operates within a specific state or specific region. Its electoral base is
limited to a single region.
 It articulates regional interests and identifies itself with a particular cultural, religious,
linguistic or ethnic group.
 It is primarily concerned with exploiting the local resources of discontent or
preserving a variety of primordial demands based on language, caste or community or
region.
 It focuses on local or regional issues and aims to capture political power at the state
level. It has no inclination to expand and control the central government
 It has a political desire for greater regional autonomy of states in the Indian Union.

Classification of Regional Parties in India

 Those regional parties which are based on regional culture and ethnicity. These
include Shiromani Akali Dal, National Conference, DMK, AIADMK, Telugu Desam,
Shiv Sena, Asom Gana Parishad, Mizo National Front, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and
so on.
 Those regional parties which have an all-India outlook but lack a national electoral
base. The examples are Indian National Lok Dal, All-India Forward Bloc,
Revolutionary Socialist Party, Samajwadi Party, National Congress Party and so on.
 Those regional parties which have been formed by a split in National parties. For
example, Bangla Congress, Telangana Praja Samithi, Rastriya Janta Dal, Trinamool
Congress, YSR Congress and so on.
 Those regional parties which have been formed by individual leaders on the basis of
their charismatic personalities. These are called as personalised parties and they are
short-lived. The examples are Lok Jan shakti Party, Haryana Vikas Party, Himachal
Vikas Congress and so on.

Reasons for the emergence of Regional Parties

 Cultural and ethnic pluralism of Indian society.
 Economic disparities and regional imbalances in development.
 Desire of certain section are to maintain separate identity due to historical factors.
 Self-interest of the deposed Maharajas and dispossessed Zamindars.
 Failure of national politics to meet the regional aspirations.
 Reorganisation of states on the basis of language.
 Charismatic personality of the regional leaders.
 Factional fights within the larger parties.
 Centralising tendencies of the congress party.
 Absence of strong opposition party at the central level.
 Role of caste and religion in the political process.
 Alienation and discontent among the tribal group.

Role of Regional Play in Politics

 They provide better governance and a stable government at the regional level
 They pose a challenge to the one-party dominant system in the country and led to a
decline in the dominance of the one party.
 They make a strong impact on the nature and course of centre-state relations. The
tension areas in centre-state relations and the demand for grant of greater autonomy
make the central leadership more responsive to the needs of the regional actors.
 They make politics more competitive and popular participation in the political process
more extensive at the grass roots.
 They widen the choice for voters in both the parliamentary and assembly elections.
The voters can vote for that party which aims to promote the interest of the
state/region
 They increase the political consciousness of the people and also their interest in
politics. They bring into focus the local or regional issues which immediately attract
the attention of the masses.
 They provide a chance against the dictatorial tendencies of the central government.
They oppose the ruling party at the centre on certain issues and force the dominant
party to the more reasonable in its approach to the process of conflict resolution
 They make a significant contribution to the successful functioning of parliamentary
democracy. In a parliamentary democracy, the minority must have its say, the majority
must have its way, and the regional parties have played this role successfully by being
ruling parties in some states and opposition parties at the centre.
 They have succeeded in exposing the partisan role of the Governors in the
appointment and dismissal of the Chief Minister, in issuing of ordinances and
reservation of bills for the consideration of the President.
 After the dawn of the era of coalition politics, the regional parties have assumed an
important role in national politics. They again joined the coalition governments
formed at the centre and shared power with the national parties.

Dysfunctions of Regional Parties

a. They often prioritise the interest of the specific region over the overall National
interest. This narrow focus can lead to overlooking the broader implications of their
decision on national issues.

b. Regional party sometimes promote regionalism caste based politics linguistic division
communalism and tribalism creating obstacles to national unity.

c. They contribute to unresolved nature of the Interstate water disputes border conflicts
and other issues between states.

d. Corruption nepotism favouritism and other forms of issues of power are sometimes
associated with regional parties as their pursued yourself interest.

e. Regional parties tend to prioritise populist schemes to gain electoral support which can
negatively impact state economics and development.