Chapter 6

Political Parties

Key terms and their meaning

1. Political Parties : A group of people who come together to contest

elections and hold power in the government.
2. Ruling Party : Political party that runs the government.
3. Defection : Changing party allegiance from the party on which a per-
son got elected to a different party.
4. Affidavit : A signed document submitted to an officer where a per-
son makes a sworn statement regarding his/her personal informa-
tion.
5. Partisan : A person who is strongly committed to a party, group or
faction. Partisanship is marked by a tendency to take a side and in-
ability to take a balanced view on an issue.
6. One Party System : In some countries only one party is allowed to
control and run the government. These are called one party system.
For ex. China.
7. Alliance or Front : When several parties in a multi party system join
hands for the purpose of contesting elections and winning power it is
called an alliance or front.
8. State Funding of Election : The government should give parties
money to support thier election expenses.

9. Components of Political Parties : The political leaders, the active

members and the followers.

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10. Opposition Party : The largest non government party or coalition of
parties.

Functions of Political Parties

 To contest elections

 Make policies and programmes

 Make laws

 Run Government

 Play role of opposition

 Launch movements for the resolution

 Introduce welfare schemes

 Shape public opinion

How many parties should we have

 It is not something a country can choose.

 It evolves over a long time.

 Depends on the nature of society its social and religious divisons.

 Depends on its history of politics and system of election.

 It cannot be changed very quickly.

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Types of Political Party Systems

Necessity of Political Partics

 Modern democracies cannot exist without political parties

 Without parties every candidate in the elections will be indepen-

dent so no one will be able to make any promises to people about
any major policy change.

 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.

 No one will be responsible for how the country will be run.

284 X – Social Science

 Difference between Natioal parties and State Political Parties

National Political Parties State Political Parties

 Present in several or all  Parties which are present in few

federal units of the federation federal units only.

 A party that secures at least  A party that secures at least 6% of

6% of the total votes in Lok the total votes in an election to the

Sabha elections or Assembly Legislative assembly of a state

elections in 4 states.

 Win at least 4 seats in Lok  Wins at least 2 seats in the legis-

Sabha. lative assembly of a state.

National Parties : There were seven recognised national parties in

the country in 2018.

As per latest information after 2019 elections there are 8 national par-
ties in India.
Party Symbol Key features
1. Indian national  Oldest party — played a domi-
Congress nant role in Indian politics many
decads.
 A centrist party, espouses secu-
larism welfare of weaker sec-
tions and minorities.
 Leader of UPA.
 Currently opposition party in Lok
Sabha.

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5. Communist  Supports socialism, secularism
Party of India and democracy.
(marxist)  Accepts democratic elections as
useful and helpful means for
securing the objective of socio-
economic justice in India.
Formed in 1964  Critical of new economic policy.
6. All India  Recognised as a national party
Trinamool in 2016.
Congress  Committed to secularism and
federalism.
 Has been in power in West
Bengal since 2011.
Formed in 1988  Also has a presence in Arunachal
Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura.
7. Nationalist  Formed after a split in congress
Congress party on the question of high
Party offices in government to be
confined to natural born
Formed in 1999 citizens of the country.
 Espouses democracy, Gandhian
secularism, equity, social justice
and federalism.
8. National  It was accorded the status of
People's national party on 7 June 2019.
Party  First political party from North
Eastern India to have attained this
status.
Founded in July,  Influence is mostly concentrated
2012 in the state of Meghalaya.

X – Social Science 287

 Some Regional Parties of India

States Regional Parties

Jammu and Kashmir J&K National Conference. J&K National

Painthers Party

Uttarkhand Uttarakhand Kranti Party

Punjab Siromani Akali Dal

Haryana Indian National Lok Dal

Maharashtra Shiv Sena

Goa Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party

United Goans Democratic Party

Karnataka Janta Dal Secular

Kerala Keral Congress (Mani). Indian Federal

Democratic Party

Tamil Naidu DMK. AIDMK

Andhra Pardesh Telgudesham

Telangana Telangana Rashtra Samiti

Odisha Biju Janta Dal

Jharkhand Jharkhand Mukti Morcha

West Bengal Trinmool Congress

Tripura Indigenous National Party of Tripura

Mijoram Mijo National Front. Mijoram Nationalist Party

288 X – Social Science

 Manipur Manipur People Party

Nagaland Nagaland People Party

Arunachal Pardesh Arunachal Congress

Assam Assam Gan Parishad. Assam United

Democratic Front

Sikkim Sikkim Democratic Front

Bihar Lok Jan Shakti. Rashtriya Janta Dal. Janta Dal (U)

Uttar Pardesh Samajsvadi Party. Rashlriy a lok dal

Delhi Aam Aadmi Party

Some interesting Facts

 First General Election held in India in 1951-52 after Independence.
 Pt. Jawahar Lai Nehru became the First Prime Minister of India.
 W.C. Banerjee was the first chairperson of Indian National Congress.
 Shayama Prasad Mukherjee was the first chairperson of Bhartiya Janta
Party.
 Sh. Kashiram was the the first chairperson of Bahujan Samaj Party.
 In 1985 Anti-Defection act comes into the power.

State Parties

X – Social Science 289

Objective Questions

1. Which of these is not a good option for a democratic state ?

(a) One-party system (b) Two party system

(c) Multi party system (d) None of these

2. In Which one of the following states does 'Shiv Sena' exist as a re-
gional party.

(a) Gujarat (b) Karnataka

(c) Maharashtra (d) Madhya Pradesh

3. Who among the following recognises 'Political Parties' in India ?

(a) Election Commission (b) President of India

(c) Speaker of Lok Sabha (d) Supreme Court

4. The political party which believes in Marxism Leninism is .......

(a) Nationalist congress party (b) Communist party of India

(c) DMK (d) Bahujan Samaj Party

290 X – Social Science

 5. Which is not the component of a political party ?

(a) The leaders (b) The followers

(c) The active members (d) The ministers

Fill in the blanks:

6. ____ is the mother party of Bhartiya Janta party.

7. Bahujan Samaj Party was formed under the leadership of ___ .

8. ___ and ___ are examples of two-party system.

9. We cannot consider one party system as a good option because this

is not a ___ option.

10. 'State parties' are commonly referred to as ___ .

Write if the given statement is True/False

11. In some cases, parties support criminals who can win elections ___ .

12. National parties have representation in less than four states ___ .

13. Trinamool congress was formed by Kanshi Ram ___ .

14. Parties like Samaj Wadi Party and Rashtriya Janta Dal have national
level political organisation with units in several states ___ .

15. In some countries, candidates for electios are selected by members

and supporters of a party ___ .

Assertion and Reason based questions

In the questions given below there are two statements marked as As-
sertion (A) and Reason (R). Read the statement and choose the correct
option.

X – Social Science 291

Options: (a) If both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation
of (A)

(b) Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explana-
tion.

(c) (A) is true but (R) is false

(d) (A) is false but (R) is true.

16. Assertion : In recent years the Indian parliament has become more
and more diverse.

Reason : The number and strength of state parties has increased.

17. Assertion : Ordinary members of politcial party cannot hope to rise

higher as there are no internal elections.

Reason : The top leadership is often disconnected with the grass

root workers.

18. Assertion : Anti defection law has helped bring down defection.

Reason : The law says that if any MLA or MP changes parties, he or

she will lose the seat in the legislature.

Give one word for the following statement :

19. A group of people who come together to contest election and hold
power in the government ___ .

Rewrite the following sentence

20. Multi party system appears messy but it leads to political stability.

292 X – Social Science

3/5 Marks Questions

1. How can common man help to Improve political parties ?

2. What do yo understand by coalition government ?

3. ''Political parties are necessary condition for democracy. Explain this

statement with relevant arguments.

4. What is meant by 'National Political party?'' State the conditions re-

quired to be a national political party.

5. Which challenges do you feel are being faced by political parties in

India ?

6. ''No party system is ideal for all countries and all situations'' Justify
the statement with arguments.

7. All over the world, people express their dissatisfaction with the failure
of political parties to perform their functions well.'' Analyse the state-
ment with arguments.

4. Marks Questions (source based)

Read the source given below and answer the following quesions.

 MP changes parties, he or she will lose the seat in the legislature.

This new law has helped bring defectin down. At the same time this
has made any dissent even more difficult. MPs and MLAs have to
accept whatever the party leaders decide.

 The Supreme Court passed an order to reduce the influence of money

and criminals. Now, it is mandatory for every candidate who contests
elections to file an AFFIDAVIT giving details of his property and crimi-
nal cases pending against him.

X – Social Science 293

 The new system has made a lot of informatin available to the public.
But there is no system of check if the information given by the candi-
dates is true. As yet we do not know if it has led to decline in the
influence of the rich and the criminals.

 The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for

political parties to hold their organisational elections and file their in-
come tax returns. The parties hae started doing so but sometimes it
is mere formality. It is not clear if this step has led to greater internal
democracy in political parties.

Besides these many suggestions are often made to reform political

parties :

 A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political par-

ties. It should be made compulsory for political parties to maintain a
register of its members, to follow it own constitution, to have an inde-
pendent authority, to act as a judge in case of party disputes, to hold
open elections to the highest posts.

 It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum

number of tickets about one-third, to women candidates. Similarly,
there should be a quota for women in the decision making bodies of
the party.

 There should be state funding of elections. The government should

give parties money to support their election expenses. This support
could be given in kind : petrol, paper, telephone etc. Or it could be
given in cash on the basis of the votes secured by the party in the last
election.

294 X – Social Science

Questions

1. Chaning party allegiance from the party on which a person got elected
(to a legislative body) to a different party was done normally by :

(a) Only MPs (b) By both MPs and MLAs

(c) Only MLAs (d) By none of them

2. The supreme court has passed an order to file ___ giving details of
property and criminal cases pending against every candidates who
contest elections.

(a) Writ (b) Case

(c) An Affidavit (d) Charge

3. It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum

of about one third tickets to :

(a) Women (b) Scheduled caste

(c) Scheduled tribes (d) All of them

4. The government should give parties state funding as :

(a) Diesal, Petrol, Kerosene oil etc.

(b) Paper, Stationery, Printed forms etc.

(c) Mobile phones, telephones, computers etc.

(d) Petrol, Paper, Telephone etc.

Source Based Questions

Democracies that follow a federal system all over the world tend to have
two kinds of political parties : parties that are present in only one of the

X – Social Science 295

federal units and parties that are present in several or all units of the fed-
eration. This is the case in India as well. There are some contry-wide par-
ties, which are called 'national parties'. These parties have their units in
various states. But by and large all these units follow the same policies,
programmes and strategy that is decided at the national level.

Every party in the country has to register with the Election Commission.
While the Commission treats all parties equally, it offers some special fa-
cilities to large and established parties. These parties are given a unique
symbol — only the official candidates of that party can use that election
symbol Parties that get this privilege and some other special facilities are
'recognised' by the Election Commission for this purpose. That is why these
parties are called, 'recognised political parties'. The Elections Commis-
sion has laid down detailed criteria of the proportion of votes and seats that
a party must get in order to be a recognised party. A party that secures at
least 6 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 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.

(A) What does the election commission of India allot to all parties so that
they are called 'Recognised political parties'

(a) Emblem (b) Motif

(c) Symbol (d) Flag

(B) A Party is called 'National Party' only when it polls ___ of total valid
votes in atleast ___ states and in addition it wins ___ Lok Sabha
seats

296 X – Social Science

 (a) 2%, Four, 4 (b) 6%, Four, 4

(c) 4%, Four, 4 (d) 2%, Four, 3

(C) Analyse the information given below and choose the correct option :

''On of the oldest parties of the world, Founded in 1885 and has ex-
perienced many splits.

(a) Communist party of India (b) All India Trinamool Congress

(c) Indiian Natinal Congress (d) nationalist Congress party.

(D) Two regional parties of Bihar are :

(a) Rashtriya Janta Dal, Janta dal (United)

(b) Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party.

(c) Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya janta Dal.

(d) Aam Aadmi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal.

Source Based Question

X – Social Science 297

 1. Which of the challenges faced by political parties is being highlighted
in this picture?

2. What are the ways to curb the misuse of money and muscle power in
elections ? (Any one)

3. How do rich people and companies who give funds to political par-
ties affect them ?

4. State True or False.

Statement : Democrats all over the world are worried about the in-
creasing role of rich people and big companies in democratic poli-
tics.

Multiple Choice

1. One Party system

2. Maharashtra

3. Election Commission

4. Communist Party of India.

5. The ministers.

Fill in the blanks

6. Bhartiya Jan Sangha

7. Kanshi Ram

8. USA and UK

9. Democratic

10. Regional parties

298 X – Social Science

True/False

11. True

12. False

13. False

14. True

15. True

(A) and (R)

16. (a) , 17. (b), 18. (a)

19. Political parties

20. Multi party system appears messy but it leads to political stability.

Answers to source based questions

Ans. 2 (A) c (B) b (c) c (d) a

3/5 Marks Questions

1. State the various functions performed by Political Parties in Democ-

racy?

2. What is the basis of treating a party National or Regional in India?

3. Describe the various types of Party system?

4. What are the challenges before the political parties in present times?

5. Describe the key ideological features of Indian National Congress?

X – Social Science 299

 6. Describe the key idological features of Bhartiya Janta Party?

7. Describe the key ideological feature of Bahujan Samaj Party?

8. “Political parties are necessary condition for democracy.” Explain the

statement with relevant arguments. (CBSE 2017 comptt.)

9. Describe the role of Opposition in Democracy. (CBSE 2019)

10. What do you understant by coalition government? Describe the role

of coatition governemnt in Indian Democracy? (HOTS)

11. How can common man help to improve political Parties? (CBSE 2019)

Answer

1. Please see the Key points to remember.

2. Please see the Key points to remember.

3. Please see the Key points to remember.

4. Please see the Key points to remember.

5. Please see the Key points to remember.

6. Please see the Key points to remember.

7. Please see the Key points to remember.

8. Please see the Key points to remember.

9. Role of opposition is very important in democracy.

 To monitor the government Policies.

 To oppose the wrong government Policies.

 By providing positive feedback.

300 X – Social Science

  By creating opinion.
10. When no party gets a clear majority in elections, to more political run
the government in collaboration with the common programme of de-
velopment is known as coalition government. At central level, India
had a long history of coalition government sicne 1989 to 2014.
 Regional party plays important role in coalition governments,
and it helps to strengthen democracy.
 Due to coalition government now have to listen to the voices all
areas due to coalition government.
 The central government now have to listan to the voices of all
areas due to coalition government.
11. Some Suggesstion are as:
 By promoting Public Participation.
 By pressuring on Political parties.
 Candidate with criminal background should be defeated in Elec-
tions.
 Candidate with clean image should be promoted by Public.

Practice Questions

1. Why has India adopted a Multi-Party system?

2. What is meant by Regional Party? State the condition required to be

recognized as a regional political party?

3. The rise of regional Parties has led to strengthening of federation

and democracy in our country. Do you agree with this statements?
Why/whynot?

4. Name any two regional parties of Tamil Naidu with their symbol?

5. Name any two regional parties of Bihar?

X – Social Science 301

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