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Three components of a political party are:

(i) Leaders

(ii) Active members

(iii) Followers

The leaders: A political party consists of leaders, who contest elections and if they win them, perform the administrative job.

 The active members: They are the ones, who climb a ladder from being the follower and become the assistants of the leaders to gain knowledge about the politics.

The followers: They are simply the ardent followers of the leaders and work under the able guidance of the active members.

(i) Leaders 

(ii) Active members 

(iii) Followers

(i) Defection in politics means morning of a person from one party to another party for some personal benefit. It means changing party allegiance from the party on which a person got elected to a different party.

(ii) It happens when a legislature, after having been elected {rom a particular party leaves it and joins in other party.

(iii) The Constitution was amended to prevent elected MLA s and MP's from changing parties. Now the law says that if any MLA and MP changes parties, he or she will lose seat in the legislature.

(iv) The new law has brought defection down and has made dissent even more difficult.

(i) Lack of internal democracy: The first challenge is lack of internal democracy within parties. Concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top.

(ii) Dynastic succession: Favour people close to them or even their family members. In many parties, the top positions are always controlled by members of one family.

(iii) Money and muscle power: The third challenge is about growing role of money and muscle power in parties, especially during elections.

(iv) Meaningful choice: The fourth challenge is that very often parties do not seem to offer a meaningful choice to the voters.

The regional parties give preference to the following issues:

• Importance should be given to regional issues and bring about development.
• Regional issues should be handled at regional level. 
• The power rests in the hands of regional people. 
• People living in that region should get preference in administration and jobs.

The following are the six national political parties of India in chronological order. 

• Indian National Congress (1885) . 
• Communist Party of India (1925) 
• Communist Party of India-Marxist (1964) 
• Bhartiya Janata Party (1980) 
• Bahujan Samaj Party (1984) 
• National Congress Party (1999)

In India we have six national parties:

(a) Indian National Congress (INC): Originally the Congress Party, was founded in 1885. It played an important role in Indian politics at the national and state levels after the independence. Under Nehru the party tried to build a modern secular democratic republic in India. The party supports secularism and welfare of weaker sections and minorities. 

(b) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): Originally the Jansangh, was founded in 1980. The party wants to build a strong and modern India by drawing inspiration from India’s culture and values. Cultural nationalism is its important element. It wants a uniform civil code for all people living in India irrespective of the religion, and bans on religious conversions. 

(c) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was formed in 1984, under the leadership of Kanshi Ram. The party seeks to represent and secure the power for Bahujan Samaj which includes 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 interest and welfare of dalits and oppressed people. 

(d) Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) was founded in 1964. The party believes in Marxism and Leninism. It supports socialism, secularism and democracy and opposes imperialism and communalism. It accepts democratic elections as useful means to secure the objective of socio-economic justice in India.

(e) Communist Party of India (CPI) was formed in 1925. The party believes in Marxism and Leninism, secularism and democracy and is opposed to the forces of secessionism and communalism. It accepts parliamentary democracy as the means of promoting the interest of working class, farmers and the poor. 

(f ) National Congress Party (NCP) was formed in 1999 following a split in Congress Party. The party supports democracy, Gandhian secularism, equity, social justice and federalism. It wants high offices in the government to be confined to the natural born citizens.

Some reforms to strengthen the working of political parties—

(i) The Constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from changing parties. Now, the law syas 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. 

(ii) The Supreme Court of India has made it mandatory for every candidate who contests elections to file an affidavit giving details of his property and criminal case pending against him. The new system has made a lot of information available to the public. 

(iii) The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for political parties to hold their organisational election and file their income tax returns.

A political party is a group of people who aim to attain power in the government through the elections. In other words, it is a group of people with similar policies and programmes, who come together to contest elections and hold power in the government. Political parties have their own ideology and vision for the society. They formulate various policies and programmes for the society. They work for the collective public interest. They agree on some programmes and policies for the society with a view to promote collective good.

Some reforms to strengthen the working of political parties—

(i) The Constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from changing parties. Now, the law syas 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. 

(ii) The Supreme Court of India has made it mandatory for every candidate who contests elections to file an affidavit giving details of his property and criminal case pending against him. The new system has made a lot of information available to the public. 

(iii) The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for political parties to hold their organisational election and file their income tax returns.

Some reforms which can strengthen political parties are: 

(i) A law should be established to regulate the internal affairs of parties, thereby making them more transparent. 

(ii) 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 disputes, to hold open elections in case of disputes. 

(iii) It should be made mandatory for the political parties to give a minimum number of tickets, about one-third, to women candidates. 

(iv) The state should fund election campaigns, thereby eliminating lobbying groups and unfair competition. The government should give parties money to support their election expenses such as petrol, paper, telephone etc. or it could be given in cash on the basis of votes secured by a party in the last elections. 

(v) People can put pressure on political parties and this can be done through petitions, publicity and agitations. Ordinary citizens, pressure groups and movements and media can play an important role in this. If political parties feel that they would lose public support by not taking up reforms they will become more serious about reforms.

The quality of democracy depends upon the degree of participation. It is difficult to reform politics if ordinary citizens do not take part in politics and simply criticise it from outside.

Functions of political parties:

(i) Parties contest elections.

(ii) They put forward policies and programmes.

(iii) Parties play a decisive role in making laws.

(iv) Parties form and run a government.

(v) Defeated parties in the election play its role of opposition to the parties in power.

(vi) Parties shape public opinion.

(vii) Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes.

Political parties perform the following functions in a democracy:

(i) Parties contest elections: In most of democratic countries, elections are fought mainly among the candidates put up by the political parties. Parties select their candidates in different ways. In India, top party leaders choose candidates for contesting elections.

(ii) Parties put forward different policies and programmes: Each one of us may have different opinions and views on what policies are suitable for the society. In democracy large number of similar opinions has to be grouped together to provide a direction in which policies can be formulated by the government. This is what the parties do. A party reduces a vast multitude of opinions into a few basic positions which it supports. The government is expected to base its policies on the line taken by the ruling party.

(iii) Parties make laws for the country: Though laws are passed by the legislature but since most of the members belong to a party, they go by the direction of party leadership, irrespective of their personal opinions. 

(iv) Parties form and run government: Political parties recruit leaders, train them and make them ministers to run the government in the way they want.

(v) Parties play role of the opposition to the parties in power: They voice different views and criticise government for its failures or wrong policies. Opposition parties also mobilise opposition to the government.

(vi) Parties shape public opinion: They shape public opinion by raising and highlighting issues. They do these through pressure groups, which are the extensions of political parties and also launch movements for resolutions of problems faced by the people.

(vii) Parties provide people access to government welfare schemes: For an ordinary citizen it is easier to approach a local party leader than a government officer. They feel close to party even if they do not fully trust them. Even parties have to be responsive to the people’s needs and demands otherwise people can reject parties in the next elections.

Differences between a national party and a regional/state party.

(c) Bharatiya Janata Party

(i) The United States of America 

(ii) The United Kingdom

One of the following countries has single-party system  China.

There are different types of party system. There is a one-party system where only one party is allowed to run the government, like China. There is two parties system where only two parties contest election like the USA. Multi-party system where several parties contest the election. Eg. India

The countries having a two-part system are the United States and the United Kingdom.

In some countries only one party is allowed to control and run the government. These are called one party system. For example, China has a single party— Communist Party. One-party system is not a good option because it is not a democratic option. In the countries having one party system, the liberty of the individual is lost because people are deprived of the right of electing representatives. There is one candidate in whose favour all the citizens have to vote. It cannot be called as elections in real sense.

In some countries power usually changes between two major parties. Several other parties exist, contest elections and win a few seats in the legislature. But only two main parties have a serious chance of winning and forming government. For example, countries like U.K., Canada, England and U.S. follow two-party system. In this type of party system the winning party forms the government and the other party forms the opposition.

• Indian National Congress—symbol: hand, palm facing the people 
• Bhartiya Janata Party—symbol: a lotus 
• Bahujan Samaj Party—symbol: an elephant

A political party is a group of people with a similar ideology, who contest elections of a nation and form a ruling government. Every member of a particular party works on the same front, their methods might differ, but their aim is the same.

The essential of a political party is:

a. A Leader: The one who forms the party and its agendas and leads the consequent members of the party.

b. The Active members: They are people who promote the party’s work and ideologies throughout the region and nation. Every state has members of different parties.

c. The followers: They are the people or rather common citizens who are influenced by these parties and wants to be governed by it. They are inspired by the works and ideologies of the party.

It is quite true that democracies have a plus point in resolving social differences, diversion and conflicts because they have evolved a mechanism to negotiate the differences.

"Political parties are necessary condition for a democracy" because:

(i) Without political parties, democracies cannot exist.

(ii) If we do not have political parties; in such a situation every candidate in elections will be independent.

(iii) No one will be able to make any promises to the people about any major policy changes.

(iv) The government may be formed but its utility will remain uncertain.

(v) Elected representatives will be accountable to their constituency for what they do in their locality.

(vi) But no one will be responsible for how the country will run.

(vii) The role of opposition party in a democracy necessitates the existence of political parties.

(viii) As societies become large and complex they also need some agencies to gather different views on various issues and to present these to the government, that's why political parties are needed.

The following are the four objectives of multi-purpose river valley projects.

• Irrigation of water deficit areas 
• Electricity generation 
• Flood control 
• Water supply for domestic and industrial uses 
• Recreation
• Inland navigation 
• Fish breeding

(b)  A and B.

They can do this through petitions, publicity and agitations. 

Correct option is (c) Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam

The above statement is True.

• 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 the problems of the people.
• Some political parties represent the role of a particular community in society, its ideology and work to achieve it. Hence it can be said that political parties are social organizations.

The above statement is True.

• 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. In this way, political parties act as a link between government and the people.

Correct option is (d) Jammu and Kashmir

Correct option is (c) Political parties

A government is expected to base its policies on the line taken by the ruling party.

Parties sometimes launch movements for the resolution of problems faced by people.

(i) It contests elections. 

(ii) It puts forward different policies and programmes and the voters choose from then.

The critics.

To contest elections.

Two regional parties of West Bengal are:

(i) Marxist Forward Bloc

(ii) Trinmool Congress.

Political parties.

(c) Forward Bloc

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

(a) The Election Commission

 (i) Quantitative aspect : This aspect is related to the availability of water resources. The availability of water resources varies over space and time mainly due to variations in seasonal and annual precipitation. However, water scarcity in most cases is caused by over-exploitation, excessive use and unequal access to water among different social groups. 

(ii) Qualitative aspect : Now, let us consider another situation where water is sufficiently available to meet the needs of the people, but, the area still suffers from water scarcity. This scarcity may be due to bad quality of water. Lately, there has been a growing concern that even if there is ample water to meet the needs of the people, much of it may be polluted by domestic and industrial wastes, chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture, thus, making it hazardous for human use.

Nannu’s example shows that government officials shun away from their duties and look for all possible excuses to get rid of their work. It’s because they have job security. Usually they work when they get pressure from their seniors or they get fear of losing job or some action being taken against them, as it happened in Nannu’s case.
“Once my parents also went to a government hospital to take my grandmother to the doctor, where the doctors were gossiping and having tea party with their colleagues and the patients were waiting for long for them. My father got really upset seeing all that. He went inside the C.E.O. room and complained against all the doctors who were not doing duties properly and immediately a meeting was called and a strict action was taken against them”.

National political party have units in the various states, they follow the same policies, programmes and strategy that is decided at the national level.

Conditions required:

(i) A party that secures at least 6% of the total votes in general elections of Lok Sabha or assembly elections in four states.

(ii) Wins at least 4 seats in Lok Sabha.

There are many party system.

a. There is a one-party system where only one party is allowed to run the government, like China.

b. There is two parties system where only two parties contest election like the USA.

c. A multi-party system where several parties contest the election. E.g. India

The political parties have to register themselves with the Election Commission. It gives the parties a specific symbol.

The symbols help the people in identifying the parties while casting a vote.

There are many illiterate people who cannot read for whom these symbols are useful while casting votes.