Why Do We Need Political Parties
Political parties are a view of democracy in India, for Indians democracy only comes from political parties. There are a lot of people in India most of them living in a remote part of India who don’t know anything about our Government and Constitution but they will be well aware of the political parties in their areas.
For them, the Government just means politics and they usually blame the political parties for any wrongdoing or wrong happening in the country. It was hundreds of years ago when many countries don’t have political parties. Any there were kings who used to rule over an area.
The existence of political parties ensures that the country runs as per its policy and ideologies. Political parties help to run the country in a healthy way. It gives choices to people about the way they want their nation to be run and have their say in the governance of the country.
Political parties are a group of like-minded people who come together to contest elections in order to hold power to form a government. They are a medium by which people can speak to the government. Political Parties play a crucial role in making laws for a country and putting their policies and programs for the welfare of the public.
Modern democracy cannot exist without political parties. If there is no political party every candidate will be accounted only for their specific constituency then who will be responsible for running the nation.
Different cultures and people have different ideologies and they cannot together think about what is good for our country. For that, we need one platform that thinks in one ideology for the betterment of our country.
The main functions of a Political party
- Contest election to form a government.
- Political parties play a decisive role in making laws of the country.
- Parties put forward various policies and programs for which they are chosen by the voter.
- They represent a certain group of people in society and shape public opinion by raising and highlighting issues.
- They provide necessary opposition to the government that helps the government to run the country smoothly by criticizing its wrong policies and programs.
Basic Requirement for a Political party
Every political party needs one leader, active members, and followers.
How many Political Parties are needed
There are three types of party system needed in a country
One-Party system – In this type, there is one party who nominates the candidates and the voters have the choice of voting either yes or no or no vote at all. This type of political party is prominent in countries like China, North Korea, and Cuba.
Two-Party system – In this type, the powers vary within two powerful parties. The one party who won a maximum number of votes gets to rule the country. This type of political parties is prominent in countries like Canada and Great Britain.
Multi-Party system – In this type there are many political parties and have the power to form the government alone or by the coalition. In India, we have a multi-party system and as of now, we have 1841 parties that are registered with the Election Commission of India.
Various parties in India are recognized according to national, state, and district levels, and their status is reviewed periodically by the Election Commission of India. If any party wishes to contest any local, state, or national election then it is required to get registered by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Each registered party has a reserved party symbol and the total number of parties registered was 1841, with 7 national parties, 52 state parties, and 1785 unrecognized parties.
A registered party is recognized as a national party only if it fulfills any one of the following three conditions.
- A party wins 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states.
- At a general election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in any four or more states, and in addition, it wins four Lok Sabha seats.
- A party gets recognition as a state party in four states.
The eight recognized parties of India are
1. All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) Party Symbol – Flower and grass
2. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Party Symbol – Elephant
3. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)Party Symbol – Lotus
4. Communist Party of India (CPI) Party Symbol – Ears of Corn and Sickle
5. Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) Party symbol – Hammer Sickle and Star
6. Indian National Congress (INC) Party Symbol – Hand
7. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Party Symbol – Clock
8. National People’s Party (NPP) Party Symbol – Book
