MODULE 4 – Indian Party System

BY Harshidha Hareesh

1.Indian Party System

India has a multi-party system with recognition accorded to national and state and district level parties. The status is reviewed periodically by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Other political parties that wish to contest local, state or national elections are required to be registered by the Election Commission of India. Registered parties are upgraded as recognised national or state level parties based upon objective criteria. A recognised party enjoys privileges like a reserved party symbol, free broadcast time on state run television and radio, a consultation in setting of election dates and giving input in setting electoral rules and regulations.

This listing is according to the 2019 Indian general election and Legislative Assembly elections and any party aspiring to state or national party status must fulfil at least one of the concerned criteria. In addition, national and state parties have to fulfill these conditions for all subsequent Lok Sabha or State elections, or else they lose their status.As per latest publication from Election Commission of India, the total number of parties registered was 2598, with 8 national parties, 52 state parties and 2538 unrecognised parties

All registered parties contesting elections need to choose a symbol from a list of available symbols offered by the EC. All 28 states of the country along with the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Puducherry have elected governments unless President’s rule is imposed under certain conditions

National parties

A registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfils any one of the three conditions listed below:

1. A party should win 2% of seats in the Lok sabha from at least three different states.
2. At a general election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in any four or more states and in addition it wins four Lok Sabha seats.
3. A party gets recognition as a state party in four states.

State parties

A party has to fulfill any of the following conditions for recognition as a state party:

1. A party should secure atleast 6% of valid votes polled in an election and win atleast 2 seats in a state assembly and 1 seat in Lok Sabha.
2. A party should win minimum three percent of the total number of seats or a minimum of three seats in the Legislative Assembly.
3. A party should win at least one seat in the Lok Sabha for every 25 seats or any fraction thereof allotted to that State.
4. Under the liberalised criteria, one more clause that it will be eligible for recognition as state party if it secures 8% or more of the total valid votes polled in the state.

Major Features

the features of Indian political system.

1. Panchayat system: One of the salient features of Indian political system, The Panchayat system of ancient India helps the people of India to cope with the culture of democracy. Panchayat means a council of five and it usually refers to a village council which may or may not have five members- which has a great deal to say about the life of people of village in social, religious, economic and political matters. Officially speaking, the panchayat is today the lowest and in a sense the most basic- unit of self government in india. Today, there exists a three-tier Panchayat System in India, gram panchayat at the village level, panchayat samiti at the block level and zila parishad at the district level.
2. Federalism: The second feature of Indian political system is federalism. In India, the centre largely depends on the states for implementing many of public policies which encourages decentralization process. The term ‘federation’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution. Instead, Article 1 of the Constitution describes India as a ‘Union of States’. The Constitution establishes a dual polity consisting the Union at the Centre and the states at the periphery. Each is endowed with sovereign powers to be exercised in the field assigned to them respectively by the Constitution. The Constitution divided the powers between the Centre and the states in terms of the Union List, State List and Concurrent List in the Seventh Schedule. Both the Centre and the states can make laws on the subjects of the concurrent list, but in case of a conflict, the Central law prevails. The residuary subjects (ie, which are not mentioned in any of the three lists) are given to the Centre. In this manner, federalism helps the Indians to handle the problems of multi-culture, multi-language and different religions successfully and strengthen the democracy of India.
3. Electoral Practice: India ensured the voting right of people of India by the Constitution of the India which is supreme law of the country. The framers of the Constitution of India described about election of India in the Part XV, Articles 324 to 329 of the Constitution. The article 326 says that elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assemblies of States to be on the basis of adult suffrage. Moreover, the Indian government or leaders always arrange the elections after the said tenure. In this approach people always get chance to exercise their power or to choose their favorite candidate. Not only this but also the Indian government or leaders always showed due respect toward the verdict of the election. India always encouraged electoral practices and showed proper respect toward the verdict of the mass. This thing increases the political awareness of the people and they realize that they have an important role to play in the politics. So, it helps to boost the political participation of the people of India. Thus, since the independence of India the participation of the people is always growing.
4. Multi-Party System: India is known for its multi party system. It is a crucial feature of Indian political system. There are many parties in India ranging from 6 National Political parties and more than 48 state parties and many registered regional parties. The multiparty system in India make unique in the world.  In Indian political system one can find the rightist, centrist, leftist, regional, even local political parties to deal with the political issues. In the 1990’s there was a different kind of set up emerged in the national and state level political parties which is called as Coalition Party system which is prevalent in 2014 national elections (coalition among NDA members such as Shiv sena, BJP, RPI, LJP etc) and many state level elections such as Maharashtra (coalition between shiv sena & BJP), J&K (coalition between PDP & BJP). The political parties are not democratically elected and represented with the system of Indian politics. As the hierarchy system of kinship goes on its rightist, leftist, centrist or whosoever parties it is. E.g. Within congress domination of Nehru-Gandhi Family, yadav’s domination in Samajwadi party, RJD, In BJP L.K. Advani & A. B. Bajpayee etc. These political parties are established basically on the similar ideologies of Roti, Kapada, Makan, Bijli, Pani etc i.e. Food, clothes, house, Water, electricity etc.
5. Written Constitution: The Constitution is not only a written document but also the lengthiest Constitution of the world. Originally, it contained a Preamble, 395 Articles (divided into 22 Parts) and 8 Schedules. At present (2013), it consists of a Preamble, about 465 Articles (divided into 25 Parts) and 12 Schedules. It specifies the structure, organisation, powers and functions of both the Central and state governments and prescribes the limits within which they must operate. Thus, it avoids the misunderstandings and disagreements between the two. This constitution clearly describes about the nature of the Republic, the organization and powers and mutual relations of the Centre and the States, the Fundamental rights of the citizens (Articles: 13 to 35), the directive principles of State policy (Articles: 36 to 51), and so on. This constitution spells out almost all pros and cons of functions of the country.
6. Independence of Supreme Court: At present, the independence of Judiciary is considered crucial feature of the democratic country. According to the constitution the Supreme Court of India was to consist of a Chief Justice and not more than seven other judges. The Supreme Court of India has gained a respectable position in the Indian political system. Its many decisions and interpretation have been played a great role in maintaining the stability of democracy in India. Many of its most important judgments on constitutional issues have related to the interpretation of Article 14, guaranteeing equality before the law, Article 19, guaranteeing important freedoms to the individual, and Article 31, regarding property rights. Therefore, without any doubt we can say that the Indian Supreme Court performs its role as perfect guardian of the country and guide the all democratic institutions in the right path of democracy to enhance the stability of democracy in India.
7. Loyalty of Military to government: In maintaining a democratic system of government intact in India the loyalty of military toward the government plays a cardinal role. Because most of the states in the third world, in-fact more than two-thirds of these states have experienced military intervention already and many more are likely to do so in the near future. But in the formidable period India as a new democratic state never taken over by their military which undoubtedly strengthen the democracy of India. Besides this all the military barracks of India are situated in the border regions, because of this thing Indian military could not easily intervene in the political issues of the country. Hence Indian military is in heir from the British military, it is always loyal to the government alike to the British military to crown. Subsequently being originated from the British military the Indian military bears the strong culture of discipline and obedience. This culture guides the Indian military to perform their prime role and duty which increase the development of democracy in India.

Emerging Trends

1. The period between 1975 and 1985 was a testing time for Indian democracy.
2. The election of 1977 was a historic election for Indian democracy. The Janata Party had come to power promising a restoration of democracy and freedom from authoritarian rule.
3. N.T. Rama Rao, a popular film actor, started Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1982. He declared that TDP would stand for the honour and self-respect of the Telugu people.
4. In Assam, the locals felt that they would their cultural roots were being destroyed due to incoming of large number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The All Assam Students’ Union (ASSU) led a strong agitation against the central government with the main demand to stop the illegal immigration of outsiders.
5. In Punjab, an agitation came into being with the demand to separate Punjab from India and another country with the name ‘Khalistan’ shall be formed. The Khalistan movement forced the central government to take stern actions such as merciless police operations. Mrs. Indira Gandhi who initially encouraged these separatist elements for her political gains ordered for ‘Operation Blue Star’, in which a lot of militants and their ring leader Bhindranwale killed. .
6. Rajiv Gandhi initiated the Telecom revolution in India which speeded up and spread the telecommunication network in the country.
7. In 1989, the first coalition government led by V.P. Singh of Janata Dal was formed.
8. Operation Barga and strengthening of Panchayati Raj systems helped the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)) to continue in power till 2006.
9. Mandal Commission provided for backward class reservations in employment and educational opportunities.
10. P.V. Narashimha Rao’s government introduced Liberalisation, Globalisation and Privatisation in 1991.