CIVICS

CLASS 10TH
CHAPTER
POLITICAL PARTIES
POLITICAL PARTY
 A political party is a group of people who come together to
contest elections and hold power in the government.
 They agree on some policies and programmes for the

society with a view to promote the collective good.

 Since there can be different views on what is

good for all, parties try to persuade people why

their policies are better than others. They seek
to implement these policies by winning popular
support through elections
 A political party has three components:

 the leaders,
 the active members
 the followers
NECESSITY OF POLITICAL
PARTY
 We can understand the necessity of political
parties by imagining a situation without
parties.
 Every candidate in the elections will be

independent.
 So no one will be able to make any promises

to the people about any major policy

changes.
 The government may be formed, but its

utility will remain ever uncertain.

 Elected representatives will be accountable

to their constituency for what they do in the

locality. But no one will be responsible for
The rise of political parties is directly linked to
the emergence of representative democracies.
 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. They needed some ways, to
bring various representatives together so that a
responsible government could be formed. They
needed a mechanism to support or restrain the
government, make policies, justify or oppose
them
FUNCTIONS OF POLITICAL PARTY
1)Contesting Elections: Political parties contest election. A political party nominates its
candidate for the electoral contest in various constituencies.

2 )Policies:-Political parties put forward different policies and programmes so that the voters
can choose from them. A political party brings a large number of similar
opinions under one umbrella. These opinions are channelized to form policies and
programmes. The policies and programmes of the RULING PARTY are expected to
be followed by the government.

3) Making Law:- Political parties play a decisive role in making laws for the country. You
may be aware that it is the legislature which passes a law after proper debate. As
most of the members belong to political parties, so a political party has direct
say in law making for the country.

4) Formation of Government:- Political parties form and run governments. The executive
body is formed by people from the ruling party. Various political leaders are assigned
different ministries to carry out the task of governance.
5) Playing Opposition: A party which does not get
majority or come under the majority coalition, needs
to play the role of opposition.
6) Shaping Public Opinion:- Political parties shape
public opinion. They do so by raising and
highlighting issues in the legislature and in the media.
7) Access to government machinery and welfare
schemes: Parties provide people access to
government machinery and welfare schemes since
it is easy to approach local party leader than
government officers.
TWO PARTY SYSTEM
 In some countries, power is shared between two main parties.
Such party system is called two party system
 The United States of America and the United Kingdom are
examples of two party system
MULTI PARTY SYSTEM
 If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have
reasonable chance of winning, we call it a multi party system.
 India is a Country having multi party system
 Since multi party system tend to offer more choices to the voters, it is
often considered better than the other party systems
COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO
PARTY AND MULTI PARTY SYTEM
TWO PARTY SYSTEM MULTI PARTY SYSTEM

 The two-party system  Multi party system provides

presents voters a simple voters with many choices
choice  Government is not stables in
 This provides for stable this system
governance  A multi-party system is more
 Two party systems are not as responsive to a change or
flexible because they have a shift in public opinion
more or less rigid set of
opinions on every issue.
NATIONAL PARTIES
A party that secures at least six per cent 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.
 A party that secures at least six per cent 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
ALL INDIA TRINAMOOL
CONGRESS
 Launched on 1 January 1998
under the leadership of
Mamata Banerjee.
 Recognised as a national party
in 2016
 SYMBOL:- FLOWERS AND
GRASS.
 IDEOLOGY:- Committed to
Secularism and Federalism.
 Has been in power in West
Bengal since 2011.
 Party has presence in
Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur
and Tripura.
BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY
 Formed in 1984 under the leadership of
Kanshi Ram
 SYMBOL:- ELEPHANT
 Seeks to represent and secure power for the
bahujan samaj which includes the dalits,
adivasis, OBCs and religious minorities.
 Draws inspiration from the ideas and
teachings of Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma
Phule, Periyar Ramaswami Naicker and
Babasaheb Ambedkar.
 IDEOLOGY:-Stands for the cause of
securing the interests and welfare of the
dalits and oppressed people.
 It has its main base in the state of Uttar
Pradesh and substantial presence in
neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and
Punjab
BHARTIYA JANTA PARTY
 Founded in 1980 by reviving the erstwhile
Bharatiya Jana Sangh, formed by Syama
Prasad Mukherjee in 1951.
 SYMBOL:- LOTUS
 IDEOLOGY:- 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. Cultural nationalism
(or ‘Hindutva’) is an important element in its
conception of Indian nationhood and politics.
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 ban on religious
conversions.
 Came to power in 1998 as the leader of the
National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
including several regional parties. Emerged as
the largest party with 303 members in the 2019
Lok Sabha elections
COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA
 Formed in 1925 and believes in
Marxism-Leninism, secularism
and democracy.
 SYMBOL:- SICKLE AND EARS
OF CORN
 IDEOLOGY:- Opposed to the
forces of secessionism and
communalism. Accepts
parliamentary democracy as a means
of promoting the interests of the
working class, farmers and the poor
 Became weak after the split in the
party in 1964 that led to the
formation of the CPI(M).
Significant presence in the states of
Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Andhra
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
COMMUNIST PARTY OF
INDIA(MARXISM)
 Founded in 1964 and believes in
Marxism-Leninism
 IDEOLOGY:- Supports socialism,
secularism and democracy and opposes
imperialism and communalism. Accepts
democratic elections as a useful and
helpful means for securing the objective
of socio economic justice in India.
 SYMBOL:- SICKLE AND
HAMMER
 Enjoys strong support in West Bengal,
Kerala and Tripura, especially among
the poor, factory workers, farmers,
agricultural labourers and the
intelligentsia and critical of the new
economic policies that allow free flow
of foreign capital and goods into the
country
INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
 Popularly known as the Congress Party. One of
the oldest parties of the world.
 Founded in 1885 and has experienced many
splits.
 SYMBOL:- HAND
 Played a dominant role in Indian politics at the
national and state level for several decades after
India’s Independence
 Ruling party at the centre till 1977 and then from
1980 to 1989
 After 1989, its support declined, but it continues
to be present throughout the country, cutting
across social divisions.
 IDEOLOGY:-A centrist party (neither rightist
nor leftist) in its ideological orientation, the
party espouses secularism and welfare of
weaker sections and minorities.
 The INC supports new economic reforms but
with a human face. Leader of the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from
2004 to 2019.
NATIONAL CONGRESS PARTY
 Formed in 1999 following a split in
the Congress party.
 SYMBOL:- CLOCK
 IDEOLOGY:-Espouses democracy,
Gandhian secularism, equity, social
justice and federalism. Wants that
high offices in government be
confined to natural born citizens of
the country.
 A major party in Maharashtra and has
a significant presence in Meghalaya,
Manipur and Assam.
 A coalition partner in the state of
Maharashtra in alliance with the
Congress.
 Since 2004, a member of the United
Progressive Alliance
CHALLENGES TO POLITICAL
PARTIES
 Lack of internal democracy:-There is a tendency in political parties towards
the concentration of power in on or few leaders at the top. Parties do not
conduct internal election and ordinary members do not get sufficient
information on what happens inside the party.

 Dynastic successions:-Those who happen to be the leaders are in a position

of unfair advantage to favor people close to them or even their family
members.

 Money and muscle power:- The parties tend to nominate those candidates
who have or can raise lots of money. In some cases parties support criminals.
 Lack of meaningful choices:- in order to offer meaningful choices to the
voters, parties must be significantly different.
REFORMING THE POLITICAL
PARTIES
 The constitution was amended to prevent elected members from
changing parties. This was done because many elected representatives
were indulging in defection in order to become minister or for cash
rewards.
 The supreme court passed an order to reduce the influence of money
and criminals. Now, it is mandatory for every candidate who contests
election to file affidavit giving details of his property and criminal
cases pending against him.
 The election commission passed an order making it necessary for
political parties to hold their organizational elections and file their
income tax returns.
 A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political
parties.
 It should be made mandatory for political parties to give minimum
number of tickets, about one third of tickets, to women candidates.
 There should be state funding of elections. The government should
give parties money to support their election expenses.