BA ( VS) Tourism SEM IV
Paper: Indian Government and Politics .
Chapter : Party System in India
The political parties in India are largely influenced by socio-cultural diversity, ethnicity, casteism, regionalism, religious pluralism, traditions of freedom movement, centralizing style of party leadership. There are two types of political parties in India, i.e. National and Regional which are recognized by the Election Commission of India.
Features of the Party System in India
India has a multi-party system. It has a number of national as well as regional parties formed and based on different issues of the society. These are as follows:
One Party Dominance
It is true that India has a multi-party system but its party system revolved around the Congress party. The Congress Party has dominated the political scene at the centre as well as in the states . The Congress System' in India was developed during the post-independence political scenario.
The Congress Party acquired power from 1947 to 1967 and from 1971 to 1977 as well as from 1980 to 1989. Although Congress obtained power from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2004 till date, these days are more crucial and challenging for the Congress. The period from 1947 to 1967 was the period of the Congress system, the period from 1967 to 1989 characterized as the decline and disintegration of the Congress system.
Similarly, the period from 1977 to 1989 is known as the domination of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi.
This period resulted in showing an autocratic and an authoritarian trend in the party system in the party politics in from the period of 1991 to 1996, the Congress and its Government was for the first time, dominated by a non-Gandhi- Nehru family member under the leadership of P.V.
Narasimha Rao. He was also the chief of the Congress Party. Since 2004 Congress Party has dominated national politics with its alliances under the Prime Ministership of Manmohan Singh.
Multi- Party System
India has experienced plurality of the party system even before Independence. Though
post-independent India had a multi-party system, they were just maintaining the formality Since 1967 an effective multi-party system emerged both at the centre and at the state levels.
Particularly, since the 1980s Multi party alliance Government formations are taking place at the centre under the umbrella of the major parties, Congress (UPA) and BJP (NDA).
Weakness of Non-Congress Parties
Until the 4th general election, there was absence of an effective opposition in Indian politics. But they were divided on the basis of their ideological commitment. Although the strength of the non-Congress Party increased in the 4th General election, they could not form the government.
This development ushered a new trend of political instability in India.
Continuous Changing of Party Structure
The party structure in India has been changing rapidly and continuously owing to splits, defections, alliances and counter alliances.
Based on Personality Cult
The Indian party system is based on the personality of the political leaders such as Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the national level and as N. T Rama Rao, Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patanik, Narendra Modi, Jaya Lalitha and Sheila Dixit etc at the state level.
Lack of Ideological Perception
Indian political parties do not have any ideological commitment. They are undecided in this regard. They can undo things to obtain power which has been experienced with both the BIP and Congress.
Emergence of Regional Parties
The failure of the national parties to address the regional issues provides scope for the emergence of the regional parties on the basis of local problems. Every Indian state has regional parties. Some of the states are dominated by only their activism.
Undemocratic Practices of Parties
Most of the parties are not based on the democratic structure. They hardly conduct party elections for different executive posts of the party. Top brass leaders dominate the post of President for several years.
Dynastic Politics
It is like a cancer spreading in the Indian party system. Several political parties and leaders practice it to a large extent. They think that the party concerned is their family property and fiefdom where their sons, daughters and other cousin will take over the ownership after their parents.
Faction in Parties
Factionalism and infighting is a great concern for the party system in India. It has become a common phenomenon for most of the political parties. It creates groups within the party. As a result, the concerned party becomes weak and gets divided. It generates political instability in the political setup.
