B. R. A. Bihar University, Muzaffarpur: M.A. Political Science (CBCS) Semester II (2018-20) MPOL CC 09 Core Course Paper 09: Political Processes and Governance in India —Dr Anil Kumar Ojha, Professor, University Department of Political Science, BRABU (Email:[email protected], whatsapp: 9572110223, mobile:9430526223) Study Material e-content Series 01Unit 2 2. Party System: National and Regional Parties, Ideological and Social Bases of Political Parties, Pattern of Coalition Politics Lecture 1: Tuesday, 21 April 2020 Dear Students, In this series, we shall have an introductory discussion on the topic supplemented by relevant data, which would equip you to pursue informed reading with the help of text books you have with you at your home. Understanding well that it is a poor alternative to interactive class- room lectures, I suggest you to cope with it in prevailing situation. Students should free to call on the phone numbers of the teacher already publicised through newspapers for clarification of their queries First, we look at the list of recognised national and state parties in India as per the updated information available on the official website of the Election Commission of India (ECI). The ECI recognises parties based on objective criteria under Allotment of Symbols Order, 1968. The ECI derives its powers to superintend, control and conduct of elections from Articles 324 -328 of the Constitution of India and Representation of the Peoples Act. List of Political Parties: National Name of the Party- Name of the President/ Main leader 1. All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)- Mamata Banerjee, chief minister WB 2. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)—Mayawati 3. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)- J. P.Nadda / Narendra Modi/ Amit Shah 4. Communist Party of India (CPI)—D. Raja 5. Communist Party of India(Marxist) (CPM)—Sitaram Yechuri 6. Indian National Congress (INC)—Sonia Ganfhi/ Rahul Gandhi 1 7. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)- sharad Pawar 8. National People’s Party (NPP)-Conrad Sangma, chief minister Meghalaya • Criteria for recognition as a national party: i) if it is a recognised party in four states, or ii) it gets two percent seats (11 seats) in Lok Sabha provided these members are elected from three states, or iii) it got more than 6 percent votes in preceding assembly or Lok Sabha polls and have four members of Lok Sabha from one or more states. • Criteria for recognition as state party: i) Assembly elections--6% votes + 2 MLAs in a state, or ii) 6% votes+ 1 Lok Sabha member from the state, or iii) assembly election: 3% seats or 3 seats (whichever iss more) or iv) Lok Sabha elections: at least one member out of 25 from the state • Further criteria for recognition as a state party: i) 6% votes in assembly or Lok Sabha elections from the state + 2 MLAs, or ii) 3% seats or 3 MLAs (whichever is more) • Only the BJP and the Congress are national parties in real terms due to mor or less their all India presence. • Due to technical criteria of having recognition as state party in four states making a party eligible for national party status; even Meghalya-based NPP, established by former Lok Sabha Speaker P. A. Sangma, was recognised as a national party on 25/09/2019. It had attained recognition in the states of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal, besides its stronghold Meghalaya, where NPP President is the Chief Minister. • AITC got recognition as a national party because of its influence in Tripura and two other north-eastern states, besides West Bengal where it continues to be in power since 2012. • Similar are the cases of NCP and BSP. The NCP has its stronghold in Maharashtra and the BSP in Uttar Pradesh. • CPM was strong in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Currently it is leading the Left Democratic Front coalition government in Kerala under Pinarayi Vijayan. • The base of CPI has shrunk nationally; it also is a national party notionally. • Losing power in 2014 after successfully leading the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government at the union level for a decade from 2004; the INC is the second largest party in the 17th Lok Sabha. It held the same position between 2014 and 2019. At 2 state level, it is leading governments in major states, Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhatisgarh, union territory Puducherry. It shares power with Shiv Sena and NCP in Maharahtra. • The BJP secured majority in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It is the ruling party in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka. It shares power in Bihar and many north-eastern states. Regional Parties with states where these are recognised; 1. Yuvajana Sramika Ryathu Congress Party (YSRCP): Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is in power in Andhra Pradesh, its founder president Jagan Mohan Reddy is the chief minister. His late father Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy was congress chief minister of AP from 2004 to 2009. 2. Telagu Desam Party (TDP): Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Main opposition in AP 3. Telangana Rahtra: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Currently ruling Telangana. K. Chandra Shekhar Rao, its President, is the chief minister 4. All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM): Telangana: Assasuddin Owaisi 5. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK): Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, currently in power in Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister E K. Palanisami and O. Panneerselvam are the main leaders. 6. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK): Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, currently main opposition in Tamil Nadu. M.K. Stalin is the main leader. 7. Desisya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK): Tamil Nadu: Vijayakanth 8. Patti Makkal Katchi (PMK): Puducherry 9. All India N.R. Congress: Puducherry 10. Kerala Congress (Mani): Kerala 11. Indian Union Muslim League(IUML): Kerala 12. Janata Dal Secular [JD(S)]: Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh 13. Goa Forward Party: Goa 14. Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party: Goa 15. Shiv Sena: Maharahtra 16. Maharahtra Navnirman Sena (MNS): Maharashtra 17. Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP): Rajasthan 18. Jammu & Kashmir National Conference: J&K 19. Jammu & Kashmir People’s Democratic Party: J&K PDP 20. Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party 3 21. Shiromani Akali Dal: Punjab 22. Aam Admi Party (AAP): Delhi and Punjab 23. Indian National Lok Da (INLD): Haryana 24. Jannayak Janata Party (JJP): Haryana 25. Samajwadi Party: Uttar Pradesh 26. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD): Uttar Pradesh 27. Janata Dal United JD (U): Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh: Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar 28. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD): Bihar and Jharkhand, main opposition in Bihar 29. Lok Jana Shakti Party (LJP): Bihar, Ram Vilas Paswan, NDA partner, union cabinet minister 30. Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP): Bihar 31. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM): Jharkhand, Hemant Soren currently chief minister 32. All Jharkhand Students Union(AJSU) : Jharkhand, Sudesh Mahto 33. Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajantrik) JVM(P): Jharkhand Babu Lal Marandi, now merged with the BJP. 34. All India Forward Block (AIFB): West Bengal and Kerala 35. Revolutionary Socialist Party( RSP): West Bengal 36. Biju Janata Dal (BJD): Odisha, Naveen Patnaik chief minister 37. Janata Congress Chhattisgarg (Jogi)-Chhattisgarh 38. Naga People’s Front (NPF): Nagaland and Manipur 39. Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP): Nagaland 40. People’s Democratic Front (PDF): Meghalaya 41. Hill States People’s Democratic Party(HSPDP): Meghalaya 42. United Democratic Party(UDP): Meghalaya 43. People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA): Manipur 44. Mizo National Front (MNF): Mizoram 45. Mizoram People’s Conference (MPC): Mizoram 46. Zoram Nationalist Party(ZNP): Mizoram 47. People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA): Arunachal Pradesh 48. Asom Gana Parishad (AGP): Assam 49. All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF): Assam 50. Bodoland People’s Front (BPF): Assam 51. Indigeous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT): Tripura 4 52. Sikkim Sangram Parishad(SSP): Sikkim 53. Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM): Sikkim • Students, please remember, the number of parties is not constant, they vary. Many regional parties had gained national tag, but lost, for example RJD. Many national parties such as Janata Party, Janata Dal lost national tag due to loss in their support base after several splits. • Regional parties continue to gain or lose recognition on the basis of their performance in preceding assembly or parliamentary elections. The ECI frequently reviews it. Parties of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are bound to lose. • Presently, only four states—Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh do not have any recognised regional party. • A table indicating the Performance of Political Parties in seventeen Lok Sabha elections from 1952 to 2019 has been prepared. Through this table, changing fortunes of parties would show how the nature of the party system has changed in preceding decades. Then in Lecture 2, we shall discuss the nature of the party system and patterns of coalition politics. The data presented here would constitute the base for further discussion and elaboration. • In the table only main parties have found place. Many parties, which were relevant for a few elections only, have been listed below the table. 5 Performance of Political Parties in Lok Sabha Elections since 1952 (seats and percentage of votes) Party INC BJPi CPI CPMii BSPiii SPiv KMPPv Year PSP SOC 1952 364 3 16 -- 12 9 45% 3.1 3.3 10.6 5.8 1957 371 4 27 -- 19 47.8% 5.9 8.9 10.4 1962 366 14 29 -- 12 6 44.7% 6.4 9.9 6.8 2.7 1967 283 35 23 19 13 23 40.8% 9.4 5.0 4.4 3.1 4.9 1971 352 22 23 25 2 3 43.7% 7.4 4.7 5.1 1.0 2.4 1977 154 295 7 22 34.5% 41.3 2.8 4.3 1980 352 31 11 36 42.7% 19 2.6 6.1 1984 415 2 6 22 48.1% 7.4 2.7 5.7 1989 137 86 12 33 39.5% 11.5 2.6 6.5 1991 232 120 14 35 36.5% 20.5 2.5 6.2 1996 140 161 12 32 11 17 28.8% 20.3 2.0 6.1 3.6 3.3 1998 141 179 9 32 5 20 25.9% 25.5 2.8 5.2 4.7 5.0 1999 114 182 4 32 14 26 28.3% 23.8 1.5 5.4 4.2 3.8 2004 145 138 9 43 19 36 6 26.8% 22.2 1.3 5.7 5.3 4.8 2009 206 116 4 16 21 23 28.6% 18.8 1.4 5.3 6.2 3.4 2014 44 282 9 5 19.52% 31.34 1.6 2019 52 303 10 5 19.01% 37.36 3.62 Swatantra Party: 1962-18, 7.9; 1967-44,8.7;1971-8,3.71; Indian National Congress (O):1971-16,10.4;it merged with Janata Party in 1977.