Notes-Class 10-Political Science-Chapter-3-The Political Parties-Maharashtra Board

Political parties act as a link between government and the people :

• The political parties convey the demands and complaints of the people to the government.
• Information about various government policies and schemes are conveyed to the people by the political parties.

People’s reaction to the policies and their expectations are conveyed to the government too by the parties

Political parties are social organizations :

• People who have similar views come together voluntarily and form a party, so it can be said that political parties are an integral part of our society.
• The political parties try to solve problems of the people.
• Some political parties represent the role of a particular community in society, its ideology and work to achieve it.

Features of Political Parties :

• The aim of a political party is to secure and retain power. They contest elections to achieve it by fair means.
• Every political party has its own ideology. Every party tries to gain support of the people, called ‘mass base’
• Political parties prepare agenda on the basis of its ideology.
• The party that secures the majority seats in the election becomes Ruling Party whereas the party that fails to secure the majority acts as the Opposition Party.
• Political parties are a link between the government and the people. They convey the demands and complaints of the people to the government and also policies of the government to the people.

Partyless Democracy : Mahatma Gandhi, Vinobha Bhave and Jay Prakash Narayan put forth the idea of a party-less democracy. To remove the faults in the party system, malpractices and competition these leaders opposed the party system.

• Political parties fight to capture power, resort to malpractices and corruption. The result of all this is that ‘the real strength of People's Power is never known’. Hence, the party system should be cancelled. It is believed that in No Party democracy, people's opinion has great scope and people's welfare is taken care of.
• In order to bring No Party democracy, the society should be politically aware, literate and of good moral character. No party rule is an ideal philosophy. It is necessary to improve the party system as in a democracy, party system is unavoidable in practical reality.

Changing form of political parties in india :

• Congress was dominant at national and state level for many years after independence.
• It means ‘One Party System’ was dominant in those days. In the year 1977, many non-Congress parties came together and challenged ‘Single party dominant system’.
• After 1989, no single party got majority in Parliament, different parties came together and formed coalition government.
• Both Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress tried to establish coalition government.
• In the initial years, the coalition government found it difficult to hold ground but after 1999 it got stabilized.

1) Indian National Congress (INC) : Established in the year 1885

At the time of its establishment, Congress was an all comprehensive movement working for national independence. Groups with different ideologies had come together in this nationalist movement.

Symbol :

Information/Policies/Ideology :

• Dominant party during freedom movement.
• Equal rights for the weak and minorities.
• Secularism, all-round development and equal rights, social welfare of minorities and weaker section of the societies.
• Believes in democratic socialism, international peace and social equality.

2) Communist Party of India (CPI) : Established in the year 1925

It is an old party in India. This party works for the welfare of labourers and workers.

Symbol:

Information/Policies/Ideology :

• Based on Marxist philosophy.
• Opposed capitalism.
• Worked for the welfare of labourers and the worker community.
• As there was no consensus on whose leadership to accept China or Soviet Union the party got split in 1964.

3) Communist Party of India (Marxist -CPM) : Established in the year 1964

Symbol:

Information/Policies/Ideology :

• A breakaway group from Communist Party of India.
• Believes in secularism, socialism and democracy.
• Worked for the welfare of landless labourers, workers and farmers.
• Opposed imperialism.

4) Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) : Established in the year 1980

Bharatiya Janata Party is an important party at the national level. The Bharatiya Janata Party is one of two major political parties in India, along with the Indian National Congress. It is the current ruling political party of the Republic of India, having been so since 2014

Symbol :

Information/Policies/Ideology :

• Bharatiya Jan Sangh which was formed in 1951 merged with Janata Party in 1977.
• In 1980, Janata Party further split to form Bhartiya Janata Party.
• Policy to preserve Indian culture and traditions of India.
• Importance to economic reforms.

5) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) : Established in the year 1984

The Bahujan Samaj Party is a national level political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans, referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, along with religious minorities

Symbol:

Information/Policies/Ideology :

• Professed socialist philosophy.
• Worked for the welfare of majority community comprising of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, religious minorities and Other Backward Classes.
• The party aims to bring the ‘majority’ Bahujan community to power.

6) All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) : Established in the year 1998

Symbol :

Information/Policies/Ideology :

• It got recognition as National Party in 2016.
• It supports values of secularism and democracy.
• The party has the policy of giving protection to the weaker sections.

7) National Congress Party (NCP) : Established in the year 1999

Symbol:

Information/Policies/Ideology :

• A breakaway group from the congress party.
• Believed in values like equality, democracy and secularism.
• It was in power in Maharashtra from 1999 to 2014 and at Centre from 2004 to 2014 in the coalition government led by the Congress Party.

Formation of Regional Political Parties : 

• Political parties are formed with an objective to develop region and language.
• They claim that people belonging to the region have rightful claim over resources and employment opportunities.

Role of Regional Parties :

• They give importance to regional problems.
• Development of one’s own region is they prime objective of these parties.
• Sometimes they demand for independent state or autonomy.
• They give preference to the resolution of regional problems and cooperate with the federal government.

Demands of the Regional Party :

• Regional issues should be handled at the regional level.
• The power rests in the hands of people from the region.
• People living in that region should get opportunity in government jobs, administration and facilities to do business.

1) Shiv Sena (SS) : Established in the year 1966

Influential State : Maharashtra

Symbol:

Information/Policies/Objectives :

• Coalition government with BJP in Maharashtra in 1995 and 2014.
• Coalition government with NCP & INC in Maharashtra in 2019.
• Establish to safeguard rights of Marathi speaking people.
• To promote Marathi language.
• Resistance to people from other regions.

2) Shiromani Akali Dal : Established in the year 1920

Influential State : Punjab

Symbol:

Information/Policies/Objectives :

• To nurture religious and regional pride.
• Remained in power for many years in Punjab.

3) National Conference : Established in the year 1932

Influential State : Jammu & Kashmir

Symbol :

Information/Policies/Objectives :

• Works for the interests of Kashmiris.
• Promotes full autonomy for the state. 

4) Dravid Munnetra Kazahgam (DMK) : Established in the year 1949

Influential State : Tamil Nadu

Symbol :

Information/Policies/Objectives :

• Justice party emerged in 1920 from the non-Brahmin movement.
• In 1949, a breakaway party DMK was formed from it. |
• In 1972, it further split to form AIADMK.
• Made efforts for protection of Tamil identity.
• Shared power at the centre.
• Remained in power for a long period and implemented many policies.

5) Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) : Established in the year 1985

Influential State : Assam

Symbol :

Information/Policies/Objectives :

• It came into force with Assam Accord in 1985.
• To solve the problems of displaced people.
• To safeguard the social, cultural and linguistic uniqueness of Assam.
• In power for many years in Assam.
• Works for economic development of Assam.