The document summarizes emerging trends in Indian politics since independence:
1) A multi-party system has emerged, replacing the one-party dominance of the Indian National Congress prior to independence. Regional parties have also grown in influence.
2) The era of single-party rule ended in 1989, giving rise to unstable coalition governments as no single party could gain a majority.
3) National political parties have declined with regional parties winning more seats. Coalitions now require partnerships between national and regional outfits.
4) Other trends include unprincipled alliances formed for political expediency over ideology and the continued problem of defections undermining stability.
The document summarizes emerging trends in Indian politics since independence:
1) A multi-party system has emerged, replacing the one-party dominance of the Indian National Congress prior to independence. Regional parties have also grown in influence.
2) The era of single-party rule ended in 1989, giving rise to unstable coalition governments as no single party could gain a majority.
3) National political parties have declined with regional parties winning more seats. Coalitions now require partnerships between national and regional outfits.
4) Other trends include unprincipled alliances formed for political expediency over ideology and the continued problem of defections undermining stability.
The document summarizes emerging trends in Indian politics since independence:
1) A multi-party system has emerged, replacing the one-party dominance of the Indian National Congress prior to independence. Regional parties have also grown in influence.
2) The era of single-party rule ended in 1989, giving rise to unstable coalition governments as no single party could gain a majority.
3) National political parties have declined with regional parties winning more seats. Coalitions now require partnerships between national and regional outfits.
4) Other trends include unprincipled alliances formed for political expediency over ideology and the continued problem of defections undermining stability.
The document summarizes emerging trends in Indian politics since independence:
1) A multi-party system has emerged, replacing the one-party dominance of the Indian National Congress prior to independence. Regional parties have also grown in influence.
2) The era of single-party rule ended in 1989, giving rise to unstable coalition governments as no single party could gain a majority.
3) National political parties have declined with regional parties winning more seats. Coalitions now require partnerships between national and regional outfits.
4) Other trends include unprincipled alliances formed for political expediency over ideology and the continued problem of defections undermining stability.
Associate Professor Department of Political Science PG GCG-11 Chandigarh INTRODUCTION: The chief characteristic of politics is that its nature keeps on changing with the passage of time and situations and this is the position of the Indian politics. Before independence, the nature of the Indian politics was different, but lots of changes have taken place in its nature after independence. After evaluating is performance since independence, we come to know that so many new tendencies have emerged in it which has wildly influenced the nature of the Indian politics. India is a pluralistic society and the various groups, castes, religions, minorities and the people speaking various languages have influenced the Indian politics, as a result of which so many new trends have emerged in it and brief description of these is given below— EMERGING TRENDS IN INDIAN POLITICS: Since Independence the following tendencies have emerged in Indian Politics: Multi-party System- a) Before independence, the Congress Party remained in the forefront of the national movement. It is because of this reason that we cannot draw a line between the history of national movement and the history of the Congress Party. b) Though after independence the Congress Party remained in power both in the centre and the states for a longtime, yet with the purpose to provide an alternative to the Congress, many new parties were formed as a result of which multi-party system came into existence and it became an important characteristic of the Indian Party System. c) Though multi-party system has its own problems such as no single party gets majority to form the government, coalition government is formed which is generally unstable, on the basis of parties the people get divided into various groups etc. Yet the 'experience and the history since independence tells that multi-party system is going to stay in India. d) Even today, the Election Commission has given recognition to 7 national political parties and to 48 state Parties and there are about 730 political parties or state parties which do not enjoy the status of national parties or of state parties yet these are registered by the Election Commission. II. End of the era of one party Domination- a) Since independence till 1989, there was the dominance of single party and that was Congress Party. But the period of coalition governments began after 1989 as no single party was able to get enough majorities in Lok Sabha to form government on its own. For eg:In 1989 Sh. V.P. Singh the leader of National Front formed government with the outside support of B.J.P. and some other parties which did not last for a long time. b) Similarly Sh. H.D. Deve Gowda and Sh. Inder Kumar Gujral the leaders of United Front formed government with the outside support of Congress but these governments did not last for a long time. After the elections of 12th Lok Sabha in 1988, coalition government was formed under the leadership of Sh. A.B. Vajpayee which lasted for 13 months only and likewise the era of coalition-governments has started III. Decline of the influence of the National Political Parties- a) Though there are many national political parties, yet these were losing their grip on politics. Today, there is no single national political party which is in a position to form government in the centre on its own. For eg: In the 13th Lok Sabha Bhartiya Janta Party had 182 seats, Congress 114 seats, Communist Party of India (Marxist) 33 seats whereas the position of other national political parties was quite poor. b) In 14th Lok Sabha Congress won 145 seats, BJP 138 states, Communist Party of India (Marsixts) 43 seats, Dahujan Samaj Party 19 seats, Communist Party of India 10 seats and Nationalist Congress Party 9 seats only. In comparison to these the position of regional political parties likes D.M.K., Samajwadi Party, Bija Janta Dal, Janta Dal (United) and Trinmool Congress etc was quite good. c) Similarly in the elections of 15th Lok Sabha 376 seats were won by all the national political parties whereas all other seats were won by the regional parties. It proves that today the national political parties have to depend on regional parties to form the government in the centre have narrow outlook and always give preference to regional interests. IV. Growing influence of Regional Parties-
a) Alongwith the increase of the number of regional political
parties in India, their importance is also increasing. Today Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, National Conference and People's Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana, Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, Rashtrya Janta Dal in Bihar, Biju Janta Dal in Orissa, Assam Gan Parishad in Assam, Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesb, Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, D.M.K. and All India Anna D.M.K. in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra Gomantak Party in Goa, Shiva Sena in Maharasthra, Arunachal Congress in Arunachal Predesh, Mizo National Front in Mizoram etc are some important regional political parties. Though these parties perform an important role at regional level, yet we cannot ignore their role and importance at national level as well. b) For eg: The governments of UFA formed after the elections of 14th and 15th Lok Sabha were also coalition governments of national political parties and the regional parties, but there was decline in the performance of regional parties in the elections of 15th Lok Sabha. V. Unholy and Unprincipled Alliances- a) During the past a few years it is seen that with the purpose to get political power and to remain in power, the political parties get ready to form alliance with every political party. Sometime the political parties joining together do not have common ideology and it gives rise to the politics of opportunism and the politics of expediency. b) For example in February, 2002, Bhartiya Janta Party and Bahujan Samaj Party contested the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh on separate manifestoes and during election propaganda they threw lot of mud on each other. But after the elections Bhartiya Janta Party and Bahujan Samaj Party formed a coalition government under the leadership of Ms. Mayawati c) Similarly, in Jammu and Kashmir Bhartiya Janta Party and National Conference are opposing one another whereas in Centre both the parties are the constituent of National Democratic Alliance. There are so many more such examples which prove that the political parties in India work on the basis of the "politics of convenience and not on the basis of the "politics of principles' and it is because of this reason that the level of politics in India is going down day by day. VI. Pre-Poll and Post-Poll Alliances and Coalition Governments- a) After the decline of Congress, both in the Centre and the States, the period of the politics of alliances began in India. Generally the bases of these alliances have been political opportunism and not ideological. This arrangement started in the states in 1966 and in the Centre in 1977. In 1966, Congress Party lost its monopoly over political power in many states. As an alternative to it the different political parties joined together and formed the governments of United Front, but this experiment did not succeed. b) Therefore the electoral alliance seems to have become the political compulsion of almost all the political parties. Though the objective of all these alliances is to capture political power, yet we can divide these alliances into two categories such as-Pre- Poll Alliances and Post-Poll Alliances. Congress Party, Nationalist Congress Party, DMK, Trinamool Congress Party, National Conference and JMM etc political parties had entered into an alliance to contest the elections of 15th Lok Sabha and this could be called pre-poll alliance. But some time, a few parties form an alliance after the ejections to form government and that can be called post-poll alliance. Though the objective of both these alliances is common, still pre- poll alliance is considered better than post-poll alliance. VII. Politics of Defection- a) Political, parties in India are infected with the evil of defection which encourages the politics of opportunism and corruption and leads to political instability. This evil began in 1966. The Congress Party lost its monopoly over political power in the states as a result of which the coalition governments were formed which proved quite unstable and to maintain these governments, the defection from other parties was encouraged. b) In one year 438 defections took place. After the elections of 1972, the speed of defection became a bit slow. But after the imposition of emergency in 1975, the members of different political parties sought refuge in Congress Party. But Congress Party lost elections in 1977 and the government of Janta Party was formed in the Centre. As a result of this many members left Congress Party and joined Janta Party. Similarly there have been many more cases and on 1stJanuary, 1985, 52nd Constitutional Amendment was made to control the evil of defection, but it failed as there was provision of Wholesale defection in this law. c) With the purpose to make defection more difficult 91st Constitutional Amendment was passed in December, 2003, under which it was provided that only 2/3 legislators of a political party could merge in another political party. VIII. Communalisation of Politics- a) The seed of communalism sown by the Britishers has grown into a big tree and its roots have gone quite deep in the soil of India. With the purpose to get-rid of communalism after independence India was declared a secular state and the people were granted the Right to Religious Freedom under Article-25 to 28. Besides this, communal representation was abolished and provision was made of joint electorate system. b) Till today, thousands of communal clashes have taken place as a result of which thousands of people have died and property worth crores has been destroyed. In Aligarh Muslim University in 1961, in Srinagar in 1963, in Maharashtra in 1966, in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam in 1968, in Allahabad in 1969, in Bhiwandi in 1970 and in Delhi, Allahabad etc in 1979, so many communal incidents had taken place. c) In fact different political parties want to keep alive such issues, so that they are able to exploit the innocent people in order to promote their political interests. In these days religious slogans are being raised in the parliament and instead of their loyalty towards country, they express their loyalty towards their religion. The religious symbols are being used as political tools and secular India is watching all this as a silent spectator. IX. Criminalisation of Politics- a) Democracy and violence are opposite to one another, but in India the use of violent means to promote political interests is increasing day by day. Till today, so many politicians have fell victim to violence and many leaders related to communal world are the members of legislative bodies. b) According to the information released by Election Commission, more than 40 members of 11th Lok Sabha and about 700 legislators were such against whom some sort of criminal cases were registered. Such people by becoming the members of parliament and legislatures enjoy so many privileges and some time the law finds itself helpless in reaching upto such persons. Even today, many legislators of Uttar Pradesr! were in jails but they play politics from jails through their mobile phones. c) Today, in India truly the politics has become the 'last refuge of scoundrels' and it is needed to be liberated from their evil effect. X. Politics of Casteism- a) Though the constitution of India has abolished discriminations made on the basis of caste, colour, creed, religion etc yet the hold of caste on politics seems to be quite strong in India. According to Jai Prakash Narayan, "Caste is the most important political party in India, in other words we can say that caste in India has been politicized. b) While selecting candidates for elections their caste is given due consideration. The caste also influences the voting behaviour of the people and the caste of the person is also looked into while inducting him/her in the Council of Ministers. While asking for vote’s caste based slogans such as 'Jat ki beti Jat Ko, Jat Ki Vote Jat Ko' are raised.The caste war in India became quite sharp after the decision of Sh. V. P. Singh to implement the report of Mandal Commission as it destroyed the homogeneity of the Indian society. c) Even today the caste war is quite sharp in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka etc. But all this is bad for the politics in India. Day by day the Indian Society is getting further divided on the basis of caste, religion, race etc. and the bad results of ail this are quite evident. XI. Growing influence of Money Power on Politics- a) The politics in India is also not free from the influence of money power in India, the rich people have their strong hood on politics. b) During elections they help the political parties with money and after the elections they encash the benefits also. Though the Election Commission has fixed the upper limit of the money to be spent during elections, yet in reality the money spent is many times more than the prescribed limit and the major portion of this comes from black money and black money breeds politics. c) Today, through fair or foul means, the politicians try to amass as much money as possible, therefore, the role of politicians in major scams cannot be ruled out. They get nominations with the use of money power and after getting nominations, they have to spend crores in order to win the election. After winning the election, they again have to please their party bosses in order to become ministers etc. After getting appointed on high offices, the politicians try to collect as much money as possible for the next elections. This way, their public service becomes self service. So, the politics needs to be freed from the evil influence of money power. XII. Personality cult in Politics- a) Before independence our economic, social and political system was based on feudal values, and even after independence not much change came into it. b) Even today some rich and elite people have their control over politics and political institutions. The sense of personality cult seems to be quite strong among the people of India and they have more faith in the leader than in the ideology of the party. During elections, votes are asked in the name of the leader and people are asked to strengthen the hands of leader of the party. In India, even the names of many political parties are on the name of the leader of the party. XIII. Politics of Vendatta- a) During the last a few years, the politics of vendatta was spreading in India which was not right. The leaders of the ruling parties, instead of providing clean administration to the people, keep on planning that how to teach lesson to their .opponents and incidents which took place in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab were the recent examples of this. Sh. K. Karunanidhi, the leader of D.M.K. during his tenure of Chief Minister arrested Ms. Jayalalitha, the leader of AIADMK under the charges of corruption. But D.M.K. party lost the next assembly elections and A.I.A.D.M.K. came into power. b) Then Ms. Jayalalitha repeated the sequence. After taking over as Chief Minister she ordered for the arrest of K. Karunanidhi and a few other leaders of D.M-K. Party and in order to normalise the situation, the Government of the Centre had to intervene. Similar situation came into existence in Uttar Pradesh between Ms.-Mayawati and Sh. Mulayam Singh Yadav as Ms. Mayawati has got so many cases of corruption registered against Sh. Mulayam Singh Yadav. Many critics were of the opinion that the purpose of Congress Government in Punjab was less to control corruption but more to teach lesson to their opponents and same was the case of the present SAD-BJP Government. XIV. Populistic Politics- a) In India, the political parties adopt populistic politics to come to power. The leaders exploit the compulsions of the people by raising populistic slogans. For example, in 1971 Congress Party raised the slogan of 'Garibi Hatao' and again in 1975; it tried to get the support of the people on the basis of 20 point programme. b) During the Lok Sabha elections of 1977, Janta Party raised the slogan of 'Democracy V/s Dictatorship' whereas Congress Party raised the slogan of 'Stability V/s Anarchy. c) Similarly during the Lok Sabha elections of 1991, Congress Party raised the slogan of 'Stability and Development', Bhartiya Janta Party of 'Ram, Roti and Naya' and Janta Dal of 'Social Justice'. Though there was no special wave in favour of any political party but to gain some recognition. XV. Politics of Mass Rallies a) In Indian politics, the politics of mass-rallies has made its special place. The ruling parties, with the purpose to show their popularity and strength, hold public rallies. Similarly, the opposition parties hold public rallies to highlight the shortcomings of the government. b) In fact the politics of mass rallies began in 1975 when Smt. Indira Gandhi imposed internal emergency. The supporters of Smt. Gandhi organised mass-rallies in Delhi to support the imposition of emergency. Before this, under the leadership of Sh. Jai Parkash Narayan, mass rallies were organised in different parts of the country with the purpose to highlight the weaknesses of government. In return of this, the Congress Party organised mass rallies to prove its mass support and this process of gunmanship continued for quite some time. c) Today, this politics of mass-rallies seem to have become an important and inseparable feature of the Indian Politics. Now the different political parties hold mass rallies on the completion of one year, two years, five years etc of the government of their parties and the birth days of the leaders are being celebrated at big level.For eg: In March, 2003, on the completition of five years of Vajpayee Government, the National Democratic Alliance held a missive rally in the Ram Lila Ground of Delhi and as a reaction to it, after a few days Congress Party held a mass rally in Delhi too d) As a result of these mass rallies, the common people had to face lot of inconvenience and sometime when these rallies turn violent the property worth crores of rupees get destroyed and many precious human lives are lost. But the leaders do not pay attention to it. Their only concern is to prove their mass base and to glorify their leadership. XVI. Decline of Value-based Politics’- a) The freedom movement was fought on the basis of certain values and principles and to uphold these, so many people made sacrifices. Lakhs of people went to jails and thousands of patriots got killed. b) After independence the leaders of first batch played an important role in the reconstruction of the country as their objective was the development of their fellow being but not their self development. According to them, the objective of political power was the welfare of the people and the development of their country and they made use of political power as a means. But gradually the objective or goal of politics got unchanged. c) Today, to attain political power is the primary objective of the leaders and to achieve it, they get ready to adopt all type of good or bad means. In order to win elections they openly make use of money powers, and muscle power and get ready to use all type of dirty methods. They enter into unholy and unprincipled alliances, are always ready to defeat the other political parties. The parties make use of religion as a tool, play caste -politics and throw mud on each other etc .This factor is also responsible for numerous scams. Self aggrandizement has become the principle of life and political power is used to achieve this objective. XVII. Practice of Outside Support- a) Alongwith the practice of coalition governments in India, the practice of supporting the government from outside has also started. V.P. Singh Government formed in 1989 was given outside support by BJP and Left Parties. Again Chander Shekhar Government formed in 1990 was given outside support by Congress Party. In 1996 the Government of Sh. H.D. Deve Gowda and in 1997 the Government of Sh. Inder Kumar Gujral were given outside support again by Congress Party. b) The Government led by Sh. A.B. Vajpayee both the time got outside support of Telugu Desam Party and then Dr. Manmohan Singh led government of United Progressive Alliance was given outside support by Left Front which was withdrawn on July 8,2008 on the issue of nuclear deal with USA. c) The political parties which do not Join the government but give outside support enjoy power without responsibility. They are not responsible for the failures of the government yet they take full credit of the achievements of the government. Practice of outside support encourages opportunism and creates instability. XVIII. Hung Parliament- a) When no party gets clear majority to form the government in Lok Sabha, it is known as Hung Parliament and since 1989, India is facing the problem of it. In 1989 the elections of the 9th Lok Sabha were held and no party got absolute majority to form the government. The same thing happened in 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th and 15th Lok Sabha. Because of this, coalition governments were formed which proved unstable. b) Inspite of this, the practice of hung Parliament has given birth to political instability, unholy alliances, politics of opportunism, politics of bargaining etc. XIX. Set back to the principle of Collective Responsibility and Political Homogeneity- a) Collective responsibility and political homogeneity are the important characteristics of parliamentary form of government. Both these characteristics provide stability and strength to the government, but during the last a few years there has been decline of these principles. b) Today, both, in centre and in many states, the coalition governments are working and each party has its own ideology and programmed. All these parties contest elections on different manifestoes. Though the parties or alliance form a Common Minimum Programme to run the administration, yet they pursue their own agenda also as a result of which misunderstandings develop among the partners of the coalition government. The parliamentary government in India is facing such problems which need to be addressed. The Party partner in coalition governments try to blackmail each other which weakens the position of the Prime Minister He has to make many compromises in order to please each partner of his government. XX. Decline in the position of Parliament- a) In India there is parliamentary democracy which is based on the principle of the supremacy of the Parliament. The members of the Parliament are the reprise natives of me people elected by them on the basis of universal adult franchise and the Council of Ministers is responsible before the lower house of the Parliament and stays in office till it enjoys the confidence of the majority in the lower house. b) Besides this, Parliament is a platform on which issues concerning the country are discussed and then the policies are made. The opposition gets a chance to present its own view-point and to make the government responsible. But there has been decline in the position of the Parliament during the past a few years. c) For eg: During the year 2008, Lok Sabha had met only for 46 days which was tne lowest in the history of independent India. Besides this, criminal cases were registered against 125 members of the 14th Lok Sabha and this number has gone up to 150 in the 15th Lok Sabha which was a blot on the fair name of Indian democracy. According to National Election Watch the number of members with tainted past in the Council of States is 37. On November, 30, 2009, Smt. Meria Kumar, the Speaker of Lok Sabha had to finish the question hour before time because 31 members out of 38 who had asked questions were absent from the house. XXI. Decline of ideology- a) In democracy the political parties play a special role. The political parties contest elections, prepare the people for elections, form government after winning election and run the administration of the country. The opposition parties criticises the government and when need arises provide an alternative team to form the government. b) Every political party has its own ideology on the basis of which they ask for votes and after coming into power, they try to give practical shape to their ideology. But in India, there is a steep decline of the ideology of political parties as the lust for power has made almost all the political parties blind. Just to come in power and to stay in power, the political parties get ready to make compromise with any political party by ignoring their ideology. So, in India ideology has been related to the third or fourth place and only the interests’ matters. XXII. Erosion of the Powers of the Prime Minister- a) In Parliamentary form of government the Prime Minister holds a special position. It is said that he is sun around which all the planets revolve. He has complete control over the life and death of the Council of Ministers and is totally independent in the formation of his Council of Ministers, distribution of portfolios among ministers and in the dismissal of the ministers. But since the advent of the coalition era in Indian politics, there has been erosion of the powers of the Prime Minister. Now he is not free in the formation of his Council of Ministers, as he has to discuss these matters along with the advice of his coalition partners. The list of the ministers to be included in the Council of Ministers is prepared by the leaders of the coalition partners. They also put pressure on the Prime Minister to get the portfolios of their choice. Beside this, the Prime Minister is bound to follow the Common Minimum Programme and also to consult the 'Chairperson of Alliance' almost on all the issues. b) Though the position of the Prime Minister has become strong as a result of the results of the 15th Lok Sabha which Dr. Manmohan Singh has personified during the formation of his Council of Ministers in May, 2009, yet being the leader of the coalition government, the Prime Minister has to make many compromises, otherwise the government may fall any time. XXIII. Increasing influence of Dynastic Politics— a) The influence of dynastic politics is increasing day by day in the Indian politics and according to some people, the politics in India has become family business. Though many people hold Nehru family responsible for the growth of dynastic politics’ in India but after looking at it minutely we come to the conclusion that no political party and no political leader was above this trend. b) Every leader tries to establish his sons and daughters in politics during his life time ,for instance: Badal and Captain family in Punjab, Abdullah and Mufti family in Jammu and Kashmir, Hudda, Chautala and Bhajan Lal families in Haryana, and so on. The answer of these leaders is that if a son of doctor can become doctor, of engineer can become engineer, of bureaucrat can become bureaucrat etc then why a son of politician cannot become a politician. But they just forget that politics is not a profession, rather it is a means of service and when politics becomes profession, and it breeds so many evils which are found in other professions Conclusion- Therefore it can be concluded by stating that many negative tendencies have emerged in the Indian politics and all this has affected the Indian Political System. Today, the strength of women in 15th Lok Sabha is only 10.7% whereas they constitute 50% of the population. With the purpose to reserve 33% seats for them in Parliament and State Legislature, many time efforts have been made to introduce and pass constitutional amendment bill but it did not get passed, even today, about 26% of the population live below poverty line and they need to be provided social and economic justice. Still 35% population of India is illiterate. Similarly, many people in India die without getting timely medical aid and all these are challenges for the Indian Political System. The politicians need to rise above the issue of Mandir and Masjid and try to solve the problems of food, cloth and shelter, so that India becomes a truly welfare state. REFERENCES 1. C. Raja Mohan, Crossing the Rubicon : The Shaping of India’s New Foreign Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. 2. G. Austin, The Indian Constitution : Corner Stone of a Nation, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1966. 3. G. Austin, Working a Democratic Constitution : A History of the Indian Experience, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1999. 4. D.D. Basu, An Introduction to the Constitution of India, New Delhi, Prentice Hall, 1994. 5. C.P. Bhambri, The Indian State Fifty Years, New Delhi, Shipra, 1997. 6. P. Brass, Politics of India Since Independence, Hyderabad, Orient Longman, 1990. 7. P. Brass, Caste, Faction and Party in Indian Politics, Vol. II : Election Studies, Delhi, Chanakya Publications, 1985. J.S. BADYAL, “Indian Government and Politics”, Raj Publishers, Jalandhar ,2012. 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