PARTIES AND PARTY SYSTEM

Challenge of building democracy

The serious challenge of nation-building that confronted the country was right in the beginning. Faced with
such serious challenges, leaders in many other countries of the world decided that their country could not
afford to have democracy. But the leaders of the newly independent India decided to take the more difficult
path-they were committed to the idea of democracy. They did not see politics as a problem; they saw it as a
way of solving the problems.

Challenge of conducting elections immediately after independence

 Election Commission discovered that it was not going to be easy to hold a free and fair election in a
country of India’s size
 When the first draft of the rolls was published, it was discovered that the names of nearly 40 lakh
women were not recorded
 Preparing for the first general election was a mammoth exercise. No election on this scale had ever
been conducted in the world before
 Holding an election required delimitation or drawing the boundaries of the electoral constituencies. It
also required preparing the electoral rolls, or the list of all the citizens eligible to vote. Both these
tasks took a lot of time
 Only 15 per cent of these eligible voters were literate

The first general election was also the first big test of democracy in a poor and illiterate country. Till
then democracy had existed only in the prosperous countries, mainly in Europe and North America, where
nearly everyone was literate. By that time many countries in Europe had not given voting rights to all
women. In this context India’s experiment with universal adult franchise was very bold and risky.

Changing Methods of Voting

 In the first general election it was decided to place inside each polling booth a box for each candidate
with the election symbol of that candidate.

 By 2004 the entire country had shifted to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)

Achievements of the first election conducted after 2 failed attempt

 The level of participation was encouraging-more than half of the eligible voters turned out to vote on
the day of elections.
 The results were accepted as fair even by the losers.
 India 1952 election became a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world. It proved that
democracy could be practiced anywhere in the world and for that a country need not a fully literate
one.

Congress dominated the first three elections-1952, 1957, 1962/ Reasons for One party dominance

The results of the first general election did not surprise anyone. The Indian National Congress was expected
to win this election
 It inherited the legacy of the National movement- Many leaders who were in the forefront of that
struggle were now contesting elections as Congress candidates. Therefore the support and
 popularity congress party received because of its leadership and role during national movement
continued after independence also. This is also refrerred as ‘first off the block advantage “ congress
party had.
 Only party then to have an organisation spread all over the country- Congress party had
networks spread to local levels as well which any other party during those days was not able to.
 Well Organized party- The Congress was already a very well-organised party and by the time the
other parties could even think of a strategy, the Congress had already started its campaign.
 All-inclusive nature of the party- The congress party was a social nad ideological coalition, it
accommodated and represented interest and views all sections and groups within it. This helped the
party in limiting criticism against itself and maintains the dominance.
 Tolerance and management of factions- By accommodation and compromise the party was able to
maintain the balance and listen to the views of various factions that existed inside the congress. The
factional groups then would not leave the party but stay inside and put criticism whenever they found
one and congress party tried to accommodate the views. This way all groups remained a part of
congress even when they had issues and Congress tried very way to keep them by listening,
accommodating, representing their opinions.

Map information-

1. Reflects Congress dominance

2. First Election congress dominated all states and centre
3. Second election- Kerala significant case- First non-congress government formed by a coalition
led by CPI party ( coalition because CPI formed the government with help of 5 other independent
members). Party leader- E M S Naambooripad.
 4. Kerela- First communist government in the world.
5. Extent of victory was artificially boosted by our electoral system- The Congress won three
out of every four seats but it did not get even half of the votes. In 1952, for example, the
Congress obtained 45 per cent of the total votes. But it managed to win 74 per cent of the seats.
This happened because in our election system ehich ever party secures more votes than all arties
gets elected evne if the vote secured is not a majority of the votes.

Nature of Congress dominance

India is the not the only country where one party has dominated the entire system. But there is a difference
between India and other countries like Syria, China, Cuba, Myanmar. In rest of the countries one-party
dominance has been created by compromising democracy, but in it has happened under democratic
conditions. Many parties contested elections in free and fair manner and yet congress managed to win.

Congress as a social coalition- Congress party as widened it social place by accommodating diverse groups
into it. It members come from peasants to industrialist, villagers and urban elites, middle to upper classes. Its
leadership also included people from all sections of the society. This way Congress was transformed into a
rainbow lik coalition representing India’s all sections in terms of caste, class, religions and language.

Congress as ideological coalition- Many groups identified themselves with Congress in spite of differing in
their ideology. The party accommodated all ideological groups ranging from revolutionary and pacifist,
conservative and radical, extremist and moderate and the right. Despite differences among various groups
regarding the methods, specific programmes and policies, the Congress party managed to manage through
some way and build a consensus.

How did coalition like character of congress gave it an unusual strength-

1. It helped congress accommodate all those who wanted to join and ultimately reduce criticism and
balance most problems.
2. In a coalition there a ways to tolerate internal differences within the party and maintain stability.
Congress party tolerated and in fact encouraged various factions. Instead of being a weakness,
internal factionalism became a strength of congress. Since there was room within the party for
various factions to fight with each other, it meant that leaders representing different interests and
ideologies remained within the Congress rather than go out and form a new party.

What is the Congress System?

1. The period of congress one ear dominance is called as the congress system
2. During this period congress acted as both Ruling party and opposition party.
3. The period was led by Nehru-Gandhi Family.

Critical role of opposition parties- It is not that India did not have opposition parties during this period but
they played a very minimal role during this period. Yet their presence played a crucial role in maintaing the
democratic character of the system-

1. They offered a criticism of the policies and practices of congress party- Oppositions criticised the
Congress government wherever possible.
2. They kept the ruling party congress under check- They made sure Congress does not use excess of its
power and worked within the limits of the constitution
3. Helped the country from not turning into anti-democratic- By providing people with alternative and
choice by existing in the system the opposition parties ensured that people have power to change
government whenever ruling party was ineffective. This in a way helped the nation maintain its
democractic principles.

The first phase of our democratic politics was quite unique-

 There was one-party dominance under democratic conditions

 There was an all inclusive party which depicted a rainbow like coalition characteristics
 But this the ability of the Congress to accommodate all interests and all aspirants for political power
steadily declined, other political parties started gaining greater significance.
 Thus, Congress dominance constitutes only one phase in the politics of the country.

Challenges to Congress system- 1960s decade is called as the dangerous decade. There were lot of issues
in economic and political scenario that came up as challenges to the country and the congress party also.

Challenges faced by the Congress during 1960s/Challenges to the Congress system/Challenges to One-party
dominance

1. Challenge coming from united opposition- The opposition parties had now come together before
the fourth election to fight the congress party. Anti- congress fronts were formed to deal with
congress dominance. ‘Non-congressism’ a term was coined by Ram Mannohar Lohia that depicted
Non-congress parties coming together.
2. Challenges from sections within the party- The congress also had to face challenges coming from
within its own party. The ability of the congress to accommodate all sections had declined and this
acted one big challenges to the party. The syndicate- group of senior leaders inside party was one
section which decided to separate from the party because of the differences. This reflected the
inability of congress party’s accommodation policy.
3. Challenges coming from frequent change in party leadership (Political succession) - During the
1960s decade congress party leadership changed thrice from Nehru to Shastri to Indira Gandhi. After
Nehru the congress party and the nation together face the challenge of - Who after Nehru? What after
Nehru? Similarly after Shastri’s death the party had undergo stiff competition between Indira and
Moraji Desai. All this reflects the challenges associated with changing leadership or political
succession.
4. Challenge of dealing with the economic crisis situation- 1960s is labelled as angerous decade
because of unresolved problems like poverty, inequality, communal and regional division’s etc.
which could lead to a failure of the democratic system or even the disintegration of the country.
Economic crisis was one big problem that the congress party had to deal with as people’s
dissatisfaction greatly increases during this time., even if a powerful or popular leader is holding
power, people are more concerned about economic stability than the party and leader.

1967 Election/ Challenges faced by Indira Gandhi- after Shastri’s death Indira Gandhi was elected as the PM
candidate by the congress party. She had to fight the election of 1967 under the prevailing situations which
acted a challenge to her

 Economic crisis-grave economic crisis resulting from successive failure of monsoons, widespread
drought, food shortage, depletion of foreign exchange reserves, drop in industrial production and
exports, combined with a sharp rise in military expenditure and diversion of resources from planning,
all this acted as a huge challenge to deal with for indira Gandhi
  People’s protest and dissatisfaction-The economic situation triggered off price rise. People started
protesting against the increase in prices of essential commodities, food scarcity, growing
unemployment and the overall economic condition in the country.
 Anti-congress fronts formed by opposition parties-Opposition parties were in the forefront of
organising public protests and pressurising the government. Non-congress parties realised that the
division of votes kept the congress in power and therefore they came together to for anti-congress
fronts to fight the congress together.

Non-Congressism

The term was coined by Ram Manohar Lohia. It reflects a political strategy adopted by non-congress and
anti-congress parties forming a group to deal with the congress dominance and fight against it in a united
form.

How the results of 1967 election did shook the authority of Congress/ Political Earthquake-1967

 Lowest tally of seats and share of votes

 Important party leaders lost election at state level- The political stalwarts who lost in their
constituencies included Kamaraj in Tamil Nadu, S.K. Patil in Maharashtra, Atulya Ghosh in West
Bengal and K. B. Sahay in Bihar.
 Congress lost majority in nine states-Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West
Bengal, Orissa, Madras and Kerala
 DMK- a regional party from Tamil Nadu (Madras) - first non-congress party to form govt all by its
own
 Non-congress coalition governments formed at state level-SVD Governments

Features of 1967 election-

 Coalition- The elections of 1967 brought into picture the phenomenon of coalitions. Since no single
party had got majority in many states various non- Congress parties came together to form joint
legislative parties (called Samyukt Vidhayak Dal in Hindi) that supported non-Congress
governments.
 Defection- Another important feature of the politics after the 1967 election was the role played by
defections in the making and unmaking of governments in the States. Defection means an elected
representative leaves the party on whose symbol he/she was elected and joins another party. After the
1967 general election, defections became evident.
 Decline of Congress dominance-The results jolted the Congress at both the national and state
levels. The centrality it enjoyed declined in many states with lowest share of votes and seats
compared to previous three elections.

Factors that led to spilt of Congress party- The real challenge to Indira Gandhi came not from the opposition
but from within her own party which led to split of the party.

Who are the syndicates- A informal group of senior leaders inside congress who played a very influential
role in congress. They asserted their position while choosing the PM candidate and influencing the policies
adopted by the party.
Why did they choose Indira as PM candidate- The Syndicate had played a role in the installation of Indira
Gandhi as the Prime Minister. They expected Indira Gandhi to follow their advice and consult them on all
issues as she was not an experienced leader. So they a hidden motive in choosing her, they wanted to keep
themselves s in high position assert their influence over indira Gandhi considering she would always listen
to them.

Reasons for split-

 Sidelining of Syndicate by Indira on various matters- Indira Gandhi attempted to assert her
position within the government and the party. She chose her trusted group of advisers from outside
the party. Slowly and carefully, she sidelined the Syndicate.
 Differences over leftist- oriented strategy adopted by Indira (Ten-point programme) - various
reforms like public distribution of food grains, land reforms and provision of house sites to the rural
poor were adopted under Ten-point programme. While the ‘syndicate’ leaders formally approved this
Left-wing programme, they had serious reservations about the same.
 Rivalry over presidential election of 1969-The factional rivalry between the Syndicate and Indira
Gandhi was clearly visible when the post of President of India was vacated in 1969 after the death of
Zakir Hussain. Syndicate supported official candidate of the Congress N.Sanjeeva Reddy while
Indira Gandhi supported V V Giri as the candidate for the President of India. The defeat of the
official Congress candidate formalised the split in the party.

1971 Election- Why was it held before the end of fixed tenure

The split in the Congress reduced Indira Gandhi Government to a minority. Yet her government continued
in office with the issue-based support of a few other parties including the Communist Party of India and the
DMK. In order to end her dependence on other political parties, strengthen her party’s position in the
Parliament, and seek a popular mandate for her programmes, Indira Gandhi’s government recommended the
dissolution of the Lok Sabha in December 1970.

The Contest

(i) In 1971 election, all the major non-communist, non-congress opposition parties formed an electoral
alliance known as the Grand Alliance.

(ii) Indira Gandhi said that the opposition alliance had only one common programme Indira Hatao, in
contrast she put forward a positive programme captured in the famous slogan Garibi Hatao.

(iii) This Slogan and the programmes that followed it were part of Indira Gandhi’s political strategy of
building an independent nationwide political support base.

The Outcome and After Effect

(i) The results of the 1971 Lok Sabha elections were dramatic as the Congress(R)-CPI alliance won more
seats and votes than the Congress had ever won in the first four general elections.

(ii) They combine won 375 seats in Lok Sabha and secured 48.4 percent votes. Indira Gandhi’s Congress(R)
won 352 seats with about 44 per cent of the popular votes on its own.

(iii) The Grand Alliance of the opposition proved a grand failure. Their combined tally of seats was less than
40.

Restoration

(i) Indira Gandhi in many ways had re-invented the party. Now, it was a new Congress that had emerged.
(ii) While the Congress consolidated its position and Indira Gandhi assumed a position of unprecedented
political authority, the spaces for democratic expression of people’s aspirations actually shrank.

(iii) The popular unrest and mobilisation around issues of development and economic deprivation continued
to grow.

Emergence of bi-party system in India

1. NON CONGRESS SVD GOVERNMMENTS-The first major example of bipolar was formation of
non-Congress SVD governments in eight states in India following Congress’s defeat in 1967
elections.
There were two poles in such bi-polar system:
 On the one hand pole was the Congress party
 and on the other it was a group of non-Congress parties such as Bhartiya Kranti Dal, the
Samyukta Socialist party, Praja Socialist party and Jana Sangh.
2. Its first example at national level was associated with the formation of the Janata Party
government following Janata Party’s victory in 1977 Lok Sabha election.
 At that time, the Congress became an opposition party
 And the Janata Party became the ruling party.

But these two parties represented two-party system, not the bipolar system because Janata Party was not a
coalition of parties. It was party formed out of merger of five parties – Congress (O), BKD, CFD, Jana
Sangha and Swatantra Party. The Congress became its main rival.

Thus, Janata Party and the Congress represented two-party system. Such system existed roughly from 1977-
1980, till Janata Party ran the central government.

3. UPA vs. NDA - However,

 From 2004 there is one major party in the coalition government.
 For example, in 2004 and 2009 it was a coalition government of UPA in which Congress was
the leading among other parties in the alliance
 and in 2014, in NDA government BJP had supremacy in a coalition of alliance parties.

4. In states, the bi-polar party system revolves around the regional parties: for example, in Odisha
between the BJD and the Congress; in Jammu and Kashmir until August 5, 2019 when it was a state
between the NCP and the PDP, in Kerala between the left and the Congress, etc.

Multi-Party and Multi-Polar Party System

Since 1967 elections, Indian political system has undergone changes. The Congress’s defeat in the elections
and split in it weakened the party. This happened with the simultaneous rise of regional parties. It marked
the rise of multiple parties in India. Although multiple parties had existed during the era of Congress’s
dominance, in comparison to the Congress, they played marginal role in Indian politics.

Emergence of multiple parties in several states was result of changes which had occurred in the
society.

 The rise of new issues and regional leaders in different states show such changes. These leaders
formed regional political parties.
  Rise of leaders such as Charan Singh in UP, Rao Virendra Singh in Haryana, Biju Patnaik in Odisha,
Bal Thakre in Maharashtra in the 1960s and 1970s who formed regional parties are some of the early
examples marking multiplication of political parties in India.
 Their number further multiplied in coming decades. The rise of BSP and SP in north India, TMC in
West Bengal and BJP in Odisha in the 1980s and 1990s, and several such examples show presence of
multiparty system in India.

Multiple parties exist at the national as well as local levels. Such parties reflect the social, economic, cultural
and political diversity of India.

FEATURES OF MULTIPLE PARTY SYSTEMS EXISTING TODAY

 The party system as it is operating at present is based upon multiplicity of political parties. As
already observed, since 1989, there has been a definite increase in the number of political parties
entering the political arena. Numerous regional and small parties have filled in the vacuum created
by the Congress. The strength of the major national parties has been decreasing and that of the
smaller parties has been increasing.
 The compulsion of the electoral mathematics and the requirement of coalition governments have
resulted in the politics of alliance. Alliance takes place among a number of political parties that come
together for contesting elections and forming the government.
 There has been some kind of effort at drawing some common minimum programme acceptable to all
partners of the alliance. Acceptance of common programme among the alliance partners does not
necessarily mean that the alliance partners share common ideology. What causes these ideologically
dissimilar parties to form an alliance is the logic of political power. Otherwise, these are non-
ideological political fronts.
 As the 'national' parties are acquiring regional character, the regional parties are playing important
role in setting the national agenda. What is more important, the regional demands are being
forcefully voiced in the national space of Indian politics. Earlier, this was not possible because the
regional demands were placed in opposition to the national demands, and therefore, were considered
as a threat to the national unity. With the entry of the regional parties at the national level of politics,
this is no more the case. The regional and the federal issues are an important part of the political
agenda at the national level of party politics.

This has important implications for the Indian federal structure. With the shift from the single-
centred dominant party system to a multi-party system with lot of space for smaller parties located in
the states, there is also a definite shift in the centre-state relations. The emerging party system has an
essential component of partnership between the national, regional and the state level parties.