Political Parties

Good morning, students. Today we are going to study Chapter 4 of your Civics textbook, which is about Political Parties. This is a very important chapter because it helps us understand how democracy actually works in our country and in the world. By the end of this lesson, you should be able to explain what political parties are, why we need them, how many parties should exist in a democracy, what are the different types of parties in India, and what challenges do political parties face. So let's begin.

So students, let's start by asking a very basic question. Why do we need political parties at all? Before I answer this question, let me tell you something interesting. About a hundred years ago, there were very few countries in the world that had political parties. Now, there are very few countries that do not have political parties. This transformation tells us something very important about democracy. Political parties have become almost synonymous with democracy itself.

Now, let's think about our own country. If you travel to remote villages in India and speak to less educated citizens, you will find that many of them may not know much about our Constitution or about how our government is structured. But most of them will definitely know something about political parties. They will know the names of at least two or three parties like the BJP, the Congress, or maybe a regional party like the AIADMK or the TMC. This shows how deeply political parties have entered into our political consciousness.

But here is an interesting paradox. While political parties are very visible in a democracy, they are also very unpopular. Most people tend to blame political parties for everything that goes wrong in our democracy. They say parties divide people, they are corrupt, they only care about power, and so on. In fact, some people even ask whether we need political parties at all. So let's first understand what a political party is, and then we can decide whether we need them or not.

So students, what is a political party? Let me give you a simple definition. 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.

Now, let me break this down. When we say a political party is a group of people, we mean that it is not just one or two individuals, but a collection of many people who share similar ideas and beliefs. These people come together because they want to govern the country or a state. They contest elections, which means they field candidates in elections. And if they win, they form the government and hold power.

But simply coming together is not enough. These people also need to agree on some basic policies and programmes. For example, one party might believe that the government should focus more on industrial development, while another party might believe that agriculture should be given more priority. These different viewpoints are what make democracy interesting. Each party tries to convince the voters that their policies are better, and then they try to implement these policies when they come to power.

Now, here is an important point. Parties reflect fundamental political divisions in a society. The word 'party' comes from the Latin word 'pars' which means 'part' or 'a part of the society'. So a party always represents a part of the society, not the whole society. This is why we say that parties are partisan. They take sides. A party is known by which part it stands for, which policies it supports, and whose interests it upholds.

Every political party has three main components. First, there are the leaders - the people who are the face of the party, who take major decisions, and who are usually the candidates for top positions. Second, there are the active members - these are the party workers who do most of the ground-level work, like organizing rallies, reaching out to voters, and managing party offices. Third, there are the followers - these are the ordinary citizens who support the party, vote for it, and believe in its ideology. Without any of these three components, a political party cannot function effectively.

Now that we understand what a political party is, let's talk about what political parties do. What are their functions? This is very important because understanding the functions will help us answer the question of why we need political parties.

The first and most obvious function of political parties is that they contest elections. In most democracies, including India, elections are fought mainly among the candidates put up by political parties. Parties select their candidates in different ways. In some countries like the United States, the members and supporters of a party choose its candidates through primary elections. In other countries like India, the top party leaders often choose candidates for contesting elections. Either way, it is the political parties that field candidates in elections.

The second function is that parties put forward different policies and programmes, and the voters choose from them. Each of us may have different opinions and views on what policies are suitable for the society. But no government can handle such a large variety of views. In a democracy, a large number of similar opinions have to be grouped together to provide a direction in which policies can be formulated by the governments. This is what parties do. A party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic positions which it supports. When you go to vote, you are essentially choosing between these different policy packages offered by different parties.

The third function is that parties play a decisive role in making laws for a country. Formally, laws are debated and passed in the legislature, which in India is Parliament at the national level and the Legislative Assemblies at the state level. But since most of the members of the legislature belong to a party, they tend to go by the direction of the party leadership, irrespective of their personal opinions. This is why the party that wins the majority in elections gets to implement its policies through legislation.

The fourth function is that parties form and run governments. As you learned in your previous classes, the big policy decisions are taken by the political executive, which means the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers, and other elected representatives. These leaders come from political parties. Parties recruit leaders, train them, and then make them ministers to run the government in the way they want.

The fifth function is that the parties that lose in the elections play the role of opposition. The opposition party or parties voice different views and criticise the government for its failures or wrong policies. This is a very important function because a democracy needs someone to check the government. The opposition mobilises opposition to the government and keeps the ruling party accountable.

The sixth function is that parties shape public opinion. They raise and highlight issues that matter to the people. Parties have lakhs of members and activists spread all over the country. Many pressure groups are actually extensions of political parties among different sections of society. Parties sometimes also launch movements for the resolution of problems faced by people. Often, opinions in the society crystallise on the lines that parties take.

The seventh function is that parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes implemented by governments. For an ordinary citizen, it is often easier to approach a local party leader than a government officer. That is why people feel close to parties even when they do not fully trust them. Parties have to be responsive to people's needs and demands, otherwise people can reject those parties in the next elections.

So students, let me recap what we have learned so far. A political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. They have three components - leaders, active members, and followers. They perform several important functions in a democracy - contesting elections, formulating policies, making laws, forming governments, playing opposition, shaping public opinion, and providing access to government.

Now, the question is - why do we need political parties? We need them because they perform all these functions. But let's think about it more deeply. Why can't modern democracies exist without political parties?

Imagine a situation without political 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 uncertain. Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituency for what they do in the locality, but no one will be responsible for how the country will be run as a whole.

We can also think about this by looking at the non-party based elections to the panchayat in many states. Although parties do not contest formally in some states, it is generally noticed that the village gets split into more than one faction, each of which puts up a panel of its candidates. This is exactly what a political party does - it groups similar interests together and presents a unified option to the voters.

The rise of political parties is directly linked to the emergence of representative democracies. As societies became large and complex, they needed some agency to gather different views on various issues and to present these to the government. They needed 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. Political parties fulfill these needs that every representative government has. This is why we can say that parties are a necessary condition for democracy.

Now let's move on to the next important question - how many parties should we have? This is a very common question in democracy, and the answer is not as simple as you might think.

In a democracy, any group of citizens is free to form a political party. In this formal sense, there are a large number of political parties in each country. More than 750 parties are registered with the Election Commission of India. But not all these parties are serious contenders in the elections. Usually, only a handful of parties are effectively in the race to win elections and form the government. So the question is - how many major or effective parties are good for a democracy?

Let me tell you about the different party systems that exist in the world. First, there is the one-party system. In some countries, only one party is allowed to control and run the government. For example, in China, only the Communist Party is allowed to rule. Although, legally speaking, people are free to form political parties, it does not happen because the electoral system does not permit free competition for power. We cannot consider a one-party system as a good option because this is not a democratic option. Any democratic system must allow at least two parties to compete in elections and provide a fair chance for the competing parties to come to power.

Second, there is the two-party system. In some countries, power usually changes between two main parties. Several other parties may exist, contest elections, and win a few seats in the national legislatures. But only the two main parties have a serious chance of winning a majority of seats to form government. The United States of America and the United Kingdom are examples of two-party systems. In the USA, it's the Democrats and the Republicans. In the UK, it's the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.

Third, there is the multiparty system. If several parties compete for power, and more than two parties have a reasonable chance of coming to power either on their own strength or in alliance with others, we call it a multiparty system. In India, we have a multiparty system. In this system, the government is formed by various parties coming together in a coalition. 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 a front. For example, in India, there were three such major alliances in the 2004 parliamentary elections - the National Democratic Alliance, the United Progressive Alliance, and the Left Front.

Now, which of these is better? Perhaps the best answer to this very common question is that this is not a very good question. Party system is not something any country can choose. It evolves over a long time, depending on the nature of society, its social and regional divisions, its history of politics, and its system of elections. These cannot be changed very quickly. Each country develops a party system that is conditioned by its special circumstances. For example, if India has evolved a multiparty system, it is because the social and geographical diversity in such a large country is not easily absorbed by two or even three parties. No system is ideal for all countries and all situations.

Now, let me give you an exercise from your textbook. Let us apply what we have learnt about party systems to the various states within India. Here are three major types of party systems that exist at the State level. Can you find the names of at least two States for each of these types?

The first type is the two-party system. In India, some states have traditionally been dominated by two main parties. For example, in Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK and the DMK have been the two main parties for decades. The second type is the multiparty system with two alliances. In some states, there are multiple parties but they tend to group into two main alliances. For example, in Kerala, the UDF and the LDF are the two main coalitions.

The third type is the multiparty system. In some states, there are many parties with no clear dominance of two. For example, in Uttar Pradesh, there are several major parties like the BJP, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, and the Congress, all competing seriously.

Now let's move on to the next section of the chapter, which is about popular participation in political parties.

It is often said that political parties are facing a crisis because they are very unpopular and the citizens are indifferent to political parties. The available evidence shows that this belief is only partly true for India. The evidence, based on a series of large sample surveys conducted over several decades, shows that political parties do not enjoy much trust among the people in South Asia. The proportion of those who say their trust in political parties is 'not much' or 'not at all' is more than those who have 'some' or 'great' trust. The same is true of most other democracies as well. Political parties are one of the least trusted institutions all over the world.

Yet the level of participation in the activities of political parties was fairly high. The proportion of those who said they were members of some political party was higher in India than many advanced countries like Canada, Japan, Spain, and South Korea. Over the last three decades, the proportion of those who report to be members of political parties in India has gone up steadily. The proportion of those who say they feel 'close to a political party' has also gone up in India in this period.

So what does this tell us? It tells us that while people may not fully trust political parties, they are still participating in party activities. This is interesting because it suggests that despite their complaints, people see value in being part of political parties. Perhaps they feel that this is the best way to get their voices heard and to influence government policies.

Now let's come to the section on National Parties. This is an important section because it introduces you to the major political parties in India.

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 federal units, and parties that are present in several or all units of the federation. This is the case in India as well. There are some country-wide parties, 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 facilities 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 Election Commission 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 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.

According to this classification, there are six recognized national parties in the country as per notification of the Election Commission of India issued in 2023. Let me tell you about each of these national parties.

The first national party is the Aam Aadmi Party, also known as AAP. It was formed on 26 November 2012, following the 2011 anti-corruption movement, which was led by Anna Hazare. The party was founded on the idea of accountability, clean administration, transparency, and good governance. In the year after its formation, AAP emerged as the second largest party in the Delhi Legislative Assembly election. It formed a government with the support of the Indian National Congress. It also emerged as the third front in the politics of Gujarat after the 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election. Presently, AAP has formed governments in Punjab and Delhi. In the Lok Sabha election held in 2019, it secured one seat in the Lok Sabha.

The second national party is the Bharatiya Janata Party, also known as the BJP. It was founded in 1980 by reviving the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which was formed by Syama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951. The BJP wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from India's ancient culture and values and from 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. The party 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 a ban on religious conversions. Its support base increased substantially in the 1990s. Earlier limited to north and west and to urban areas, the party expanded its support in the south, east, the north-east, and to rural areas. It came to power in 1998 as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance, which included several regional parties. It emerged as the largest party with 303 members in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Currently, it leads the ruling NDA government at the Centre.

The third national party is the Bahujan Samaj Party, also known as the BSP. It was formed in 1984 under the leadership of Kanshi Ram. It seeks to represent and secure power for the bahujan samaj, which includes the Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, and religious minorities. It draws inspiration from the ideas and teachings of Sahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Periyar Ramaswami Naicker, and Babasaheb Ambedkar. It 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. It has formed government in Uttar Pradesh several times by taking the support of different parties at different times. In the Lok Sabha elections held in 2019, it polled about 3.63 per cent votes and secured 10 seats in the Lok Sabha.

The fourth national party is the Communist Party of India - Marxist, also known as the CPI-M. It was founded in 1964. It believes in Marxism-Leninism. It supports socialism, secularism, and democracy and opposes imperialism and communalism. It accepts democratic elections as a useful and helpful means for securing the objective of socio-economic justice in India. It enjoys strong support in West Bengal, Kerala, and Tripura, especially among the poor, factory workers, farmers, agricultural labourers, and the intelligentsia. It is critical of the new economic policies that allow free flow of foreign capital and goods into the country. It was in power in West Bengal without a break for 34 years. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it won about 1.75 per cent of votes and 3 seats.

The fifth national party is the Indian National Congress, also known as the Congress Party. It is one of the oldest parties of the world. It was founded in 1885 and has experienced many splits. It played a dominant role in Indian politics at the national and state level for several decades after India's Independence. Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the party sought to build a modern secular democratic republic in India. It was the 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. It is a centrist party, neither rightist nor leftist, in its ideological orientation. The party espouses secularism and welfare of weaker sections and minorities. The Congress supports new economic reforms but with a human face. It was the leader of the United Progressive Alliance government from 2004 to 2019. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, it won 19.5 per cent votes and 52 seats.

The sixth national party is the National People's Party, also known as the NPP. It was formed in July 2013 under the leadership of P.A. Sangma. It is the first political party from North East India to have attained the status of a national party. It believes in diversity of the country and recognizes that different regions have different developmental challenges. The core philosophy of the party is education and employment for all as well as empowerment of all sections of the society. It formed government in Meghalaya and has presence in many of the North Eastern States. In the Lok Sabha election held in 2019, the NPP secured one seat in the Lok Sabha.

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Now, let me tell you about State parties. Other than these national parties, most of the major parties of the country are classified by the Election Commission as 'State parties'. These are commonly referred to as regional parties. Yet these parties need not be regional in their ideology or outlook. Some of these parties are all India parties that happen to have succeeded only in some states. Parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have national-level political organisations with units in several states. Some of these parties like the Biju Janata Dal, the Sikkim Democratic Front, the Mizo National Front, and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi are conscious about their State identity.

Over the last three decades, the number and strength of these parties has expanded. This made the Parliament of India politically more and more diverse. No one national party was able to secure on its own a majority in the Lok Sabha until 2014. As a result, the national parties were compelled to form alliances with State parties. Since 1996, nearly every one of the State parties has got an opportunity to be a part of one or the other national-level coalition government. This has contributed to the strengthening of federalism and democracy in our country.

Now let's move on to the next important section - the challenges to political parties.

We have seen how crucial political parties are for the working of democracy. Since parties are the most visible face of democracy, it is natural that people blame parties for whatever is wrong with the working of democracy. All over the world, people express strong dissatisfaction with the failure of political parties to perform their functions well. This is the case in our country too. Popular dissatisfaction and criticism has focused on four problem areas in the working of political parties. Political parties need to face and overcome these challenges in order to remain effective instruments of democracy.

The first challenge is the lack of internal democracy within parties. All over the world, there is a tendency in political parties towards the concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top. Parties do not keep membership registers, do not hold organisational meetings, and do not conduct internal elections regularly. Ordinary members of the party do not get sufficient information on what happens inside the party. They do not have the means or the connections needed to influence the decisions. As a result, the leaders assume greater power to make decisions in the name of the party. Since one or few leaders exercise paramount power in the party, those who disagree with the leadership find it difficult to continue in the party. More than loyalty to party principles and policies, personal loyalty to the leader becomes more important.

The second challenge is dynastic succession, which is related to the first one. Since most political parties do not practice open and transparent procedures for their functioning, there are very few ways for an ordinary worker to rise to the top in a party. Those who happen to be the leaders are in a position of unfair advantage to favour people close to them or even their family members. In many parties, the top positions are always controlled by members of one family. This is unfair to other members of that party. This is also bad for democracy, since people who do not have adequate experience or popular support come to occupy positions of power. This tendency is present in some measure all over the world, including in some of the older democracies.

The third challenge is about the growing role of money and muscle power in parties, especially during elections. Since parties are focused only on winning elections, they tend to use short-cuts to win elections. They tend to nominate those candidates who have or can raise lots of money. Rich people and companies who give funds to the parties tend to have influence on the policies and decisions of the party. In some cases, parties support criminals who can win elections. Democrats all over the world are worried about the increasing role of rich people and big companies in democratic politics.

The fourth challenge is that very often parties do not seem to offer a meaningful choice to the voters. In order to offer meaningful choice, parties must be significantly different. In recent years, there has been a decline in the ideological differences among parties in most parts of the world. For example, the difference between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party in Britain is very little. They agree on more fundamental aspects but differ only in details on how policies are to be framed and implemented. In our country too, the differences among all the major parties on the economic policies have reduced. Those who want really different policies have no option available to them. Sometimes people cannot even elect very different leaders either, because the same set of leaders keep shifting from one party to another.

Now let's look at how political parties can be reformed.

In order to face these challenges, political parties need to be reformed. The question is - are political parties willing to reform? If they are willing, what has prevented them from reforming so far? If they are not willing, is it possible to force them to reform? Citizens all over the world face this question. This is not a simple question to answer. In a democracy, the final decision is made by leaders who represent political parties. People can replace them, but only by another set of party leaders. If all of them do not wish to reform, how can anyone force them to change?

Let us look at some of the recent efforts and suggestions in our country to reform political parties and its leaders.

The Constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from changing parties. This was done because many elected representatives were indulging in defection in order to become ministers or for cash rewards. Now the law says that if any MLA or MP changes parties, he or she will lose the seat in the legislature. This new law has helped bring defection 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 criminal cases pending against him. The new system has made a lot of information available to the public. But there is no system to check if the information given by the candidates 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 income tax returns. The parties have 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 parties. It should be made compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of its members, to follow its own constitution, to have an independent authority to act as a judge in case of party disputes, and 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.

These suggestions have not yet been accepted by political parties. If and when these are accepted, these could lead to some improvement. But we must be very careful about legal solutions to political problems. Over-regulation of political parties can be counter-productive. This would force all parties to find ways to cheat the law. Besides, political parties will not agree to pass a law that they do not like.

There are two other ways in which political parties can be reformed. One, people can put pressure on political parties. This can be done through petitions, publicity, and agitations. Ordinary citizens, pressure groups and movements, and the media can play an important role in this. If political parties feel that they would lose public support by not taking up reforms, they would become more serious about reforms. Two, political parties can improve if those who want this join political parties. The quality of democracy depends on the degree of public participation. It is difficult to reform politics if ordinary citizens do not take part in it and simply criticise it from the outside. The problem of bad politics can be solved by more and better politics.

Now let's come to the exercises at the end of the chapter. I will solve each question one by one so that you understand how to answer them.

Exercise 1: State the various functions political parties perform in a democracy.

The various functions that political parties perform in a democracy are as follows:

First, parties contest elections. They field candidates and give voters choices to vote for.

Second, parties put forward different policies and programmes. They reduce a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic positions which they support.

Third, parties play a decisive role in making laws. Since most legislators belong to a party, they follow the party direction when voting on laws.

Fourth, parties form and run governments. They recruit leaders, train them, and make them ministers.

Fifth, parties that lose elections play the role of opposition. They criticise the government and mobilise opposition.

Sixth, parties shape public opinion. They raise and highlight issues that matter to the people.

Seventh, parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes. They help ordinary citizens approach the government.

Exercise 2: What are the various challenges faced by political parties?

The various challenges faced by political parties are:

First, lack of internal democracy. Power tends to get concentrated in the hands of a few leaders at the top. Parties do not conduct internal elections regularly or maintain transparency.

Second, dynastic succession. Since parties do not have transparent procedures, top positions are often controlled by members of one family. This is unfair to other party workers.

Third, growing role of money and muscle power. Parties tend to nominate candidates who can raise money, and sometimes they support criminals who can win elections.

Fourth, lack of meaningful choice. There is a decline in ideological differences among parties, so voters do not have significantly different options to choose from.

Exercise 3: Suggest some reforms to strengthen parties so that they perform their functions well.

Some reforms to strengthen political parties are:

First, a law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties. Parties should be required to maintain membership registers, hold organisational meetings, and conduct internal elections.

Second, it should be made mandatory for parties to give a minimum number of tickets, about one-third, to women candidates. There should also be a quota for women in the decision-making bodies of the party.

Third, there should be state funding of elections. The government should give parties money to support their election expenses.

Fourth, the Supreme Court's order making it mandatory for candidates to file affidavits should be strictly implemented, and there should be a mechanism to verify the information provided.

Fifth, people should put pressure on political parties through petitions, agitations, and media campaigns. More people should join political parties to reform them from within.

Exercise 4: What is a 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.

Exercise 5: What are the characteristics of a political party?

The characteristics of a political party are:

First, it is a group of people who share similar political beliefs and ideologies.

Second, they come together to contest elections and seek political power.

Third, they agree on certain policies and programmes for the society.

Fourth, they try to persuade people why their policies are better than others.

Fifth, they seek to implement their policies by winning popular support through elections.

Sixth, a political party has three components - the leaders, the active members, and the followers.

Exercise 6: A group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government is called a political party.

Exercise 7: This is a matching question. Let me match the items correctly.

List I has the names of parties, and List II has the names of alliances or categories.

The Congress Party is part of the United Progressive Alliance, which is option C.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is part of the National Democratic Alliance, which is option A.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is part of the Left Front, which is option D.

The Telugu Desam Party is a State party, which is option B.

So the correct answer is (c) - 1-C, 2-A, 3-D, 4-B.

Exercise 8: Who among the following is the founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party?

The correct answer is A. Kanshi Ram. He founded the BSP in 1984. Sahu Maharaj, B.R. Ambedkar, and Jotiba Phule were inspirations for the party, but they were not the founders.

Exercise 9: What is the guiding philosophy of the Bharatiya Janata Party?

The correct answer is C. Integral humanism. This is the philosophy given by Deendayal Upadhyaya, which emphasizes combining India's ancient cultural values with modern needs. Bahujan Samaj is the philosophy of the BSP, revolutionary democracy is associated with some left parties, and modernity is a broad concept not specific to any party.

Exercise 10: Consider the following statements on parties.

Statement A says that political parties do not enjoy much trust among the people. This is true, as we saw in the data section.

Statement B says that parties are often rocked by scandals involving top party leaders. This is also true.

Statement C says that parties are not necessary to run governments. This is false because we need parties to form governments and run them.

So the correct answer is (b) A and B.

Exercise 11: This is a passage-based question about Muhammad Yunus launching a political party in Bangladesh.

Let me answer the questions based on the passage.

Do you think Yunus made a right decision to float a new political party?

Yes, I think Yunus made a right decision because he wanted to foster proper leadership, good governance, and build a new Bangladesh. He felt that only a political party different from the traditional ones would bring about new political culture. His party would be democratic from the grassroots level. This shows his intention to bring positive change.

Do you agree with the statements and fears expressed by various people?

Some people welcomed his decision, saying that now Bangladesh will have a chance to choose between good and bad and eventually have a good government. They hoped that the government would keep itself away from corruption and make fighting corruption and black money a top priority. This is a positive view.

However, leaders of traditional political parties were apprehensive. They said that politics is different from winning awards - it is very challenging and often controversial. Some were highly critical and asked why he was rushing into politics. They even questioned whether he was being planted in politics by mentors from outside the country.

I agree with the positive views that new parties can bring fresh ideas and clean politics. The fears expressed by traditional parties might be because they are worried about losing their dominance.

How do you want this new party organised to make it different from other parties?

If I were to begin this political party, I would defend it by making it truly democratic from the grassroots level. I would ensure that:

First, the party maintains transparency in its functioning and financial matters.

Second, the party selects candidates through a democratic process, not based on family connections or money power.

Third, the party focuses on issues like fighting corruption, promoting good governance, and ensuring economic development for the poor.

Fourth, the party encourages participation of ordinary citizens in decision-making.

Fifth, the party maintains ideological consistency and does not compromise on its principles for the sake of power.

Now, students, let me also address the activity given in the chapter. The activity asks you to categorise photographs by the functions of political parties they illustrate. Let me explain each photograph:

The first photograph shows activists of BJP Mahila Morcha demonstrating against hike in prices of onions and LPG in Visakhapatnam. This illustrates the function of shaping public opinion and raising issues that matter to the people.

The second photograph shows a Minister distributing a one lakh cheque to the families of hooch victims at their houses. This illustrates the function of providing people access to government machinery and welfare schemes.

The third photograph shows activists of CPI(M), CPI, OGP, and JD(S) taking out a rally in Bhubaneswar to protest against POSCO, the Korean steel company. This illustrates the function of playing opposition and mobilising public opinion against government decisions.

Now, students, I want you to find one photograph or news clipping from your own area for each of these functions. You can look at local newspapers or search online for examples of political party activities in your area that illustrate these functions.

Now let me give you a brief summary of everything we have learned in this chapter.

In this chapter, we learned that a political party is a group of people who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. They have three components - leaders, active members, and followers. Political parties perform several important functions in a democracy: contesting elections, formulating policies, making laws, forming governments, playing opposition, shaping public opinion, and providing access to government.

We learned that there are three main types of party systems: one-party system, two-party system, and multiparty system. India has a multiparty system, which has evolved over time based on our social and geographical diversity.

We learned about the various national parties in India, including the Aam Aadmi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Communist Party of India - Marxist, the Indian National Congress, and the National People's Party. We also learned about State parties, which are also known as regional parties.

We learned about the four main challenges faced by political parties: lack of internal democracy, dynastic succession, growing role of money and muscle power, and lack of meaningful choice for voters.

Finally, we learned about the various reforms that can strengthen political parties, including regulating their internal affairs, providing tickets to women, state funding of elections, and encouraging public participation.

This brings us to the end of the chapter. I hope you now have a clear understanding of political parties - what they are, why we need them, how they function, and what challenges they face. Remember, political parties are essential for democracy, but they need to be reformed to serve the people better. And as responsible citizens, we should participate in political processes to strengthen our democracy.

Thank you for your attention. See you in the next class.