Chapter 3 - Political Parties
1. Choose the correct option from the given options and complete the sentences.
(1) When people come together and participate in electoral process, to acquire political power, such organisations are called …………
(a) Government
(b) Society
(c) Political parties
(d) Social organisations
Ans: Option (c) – Political parties
(2) National Conference is a party in ………… this region.
(a) Odisha
(b) Assam
(c) Bihar
(d) Jammu and Kashmir
Ans: Option (d) – Jammu and Kashmir
(3) Justice Party – a non-Brahmin movement was transformed into ………. Political Party.
(a) Assam Gan Parishad
(b) Shivsena
(c) Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam
(d) Jammu and Kashmir National Conference
Ans: Option (c) – Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam
2. State whether following statements are true or false. Give reasons for your answer.
(1) Political parties act as a link between government and people.
Ans: True.
Reason:
(i) Bhartiya Jana Sangh was established in 1951. This party was merged with the Janata Party that was established in 1977.
(ii) The Janata Party could not survive. There was a split in the party and Bharatiya Jan Sangh – the component party of Janata Party established a new party in 1980 – Bhartiya Janata Party.
(2) Political parties are social organisations.
Ans: True.
Reason:
(i) Political parties communicate the demands and complaints of the people to the government.
(ii) Government tries to get support from the people for its policies and programmes through political parties.
(3) Coalition politics leads to instability.
Ans: False
Reason:
(i) The belief that a coalition government brings instability was proved wrong by the political party system in our country.
(ii) In fact, the coalition government system is stabilized in India.
(4) Shiromani Akali Dal is a national party.
Ans: False.
Reason:
(i) Shiromani Akali Dal is a regional political party which has assumed power in Punjab for many years.
(ii) It was established in 1920, a prominent regional party in Punjab with the objective of cultivating religions and regional identity.
3. Explain the following concepts.
(1) Regionalism
Ans:
(i) Regionalism is the excessive pride in one’s region and its culture, history, development etc which leads to the belief that other regions are inferior.
(ii) It is usually caused by the differences in economic and industrial development between regions.
(2) National Parties
Ans:
(i) The political parties that secure a minimum of 6% valid votes in four (or more) States in the Lok Sabha or State Assembly elections and have a minimum of its 4 elected members in the Lok Sabha, are recognised as National Parties.
For example: Indian National Congress (INC), Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (CPI).
(ii) Another criteria for recognition as a National Party mandates that the candidates of a party should be elected from a minimum of 2% of total Lok Sabha constituency and minimum of 3 states.
4. Answer the following questions in brief.
(1) What are the major characteristics of political parties?
Ans: The major characteristics of political parties are:
(i) To achieve power:
(a) To achieve power through election is the main objective of Political Parties.
(b) Different Political Parties compete with each other to get power.
(ii) Basis of ideology:
(a) The policies and thoughts of Political Parties are called ideology.
(b) The parties get support from the society based on their ideologies. This social support is called the ‘mass base’ of Political Parties.
(iii) Party agenda:
(a) On the basis of ideology, Political Parties prepare party agenda
(b) They implement their agenda after they get political power.
(iv) To establish Government:
(a) Political Parties establish and govern the nation.
(b) The Political Party which gets majority in the election forms the government.
(v) Link between the Government and the people:
(a) Political Party works as a link between the people and the government.
(b) Political Party communicates the demands and complaints of the people to the government.
(c) Government tries to get the support of the people for its politics and programmes through political parties.
(2) What changes have taken place in the nature of political parties in India?
Ans: The following changes were seen in the party system in India:
(i) Indian- National Congress was the only dominant party in states and at the centre after independence.
(ii) All other parties came together and formed a coalition in 1977 and defeated the Congress.
(iii) For the first time in history, the two-party system became more important than the one-party system.
(iv) The one-party system came to an end after the 1989 elections.
(v) Regional parties got importance and the coalition government was formed at the centre and in the states.