Political parties are groups that contest elections and seek to hold power in government. They agree on policies and programs to promote collective good. The main components of a political party are leaders, active members, and supporters. Most Indians are critical of political parties and blame them for problems in democracy. Political parties are necessary to give citizens choices and form stable governments. The two types of political parties in India are national parties and state/regional parties. Political parties play important roles like contesting elections, forming governments, shaping public opinion, and providing access to government programs. While ruling parties govern and address people's concerns, opposition parties scrutinize the government and prevent abuse of power. The major national political parties in India are the Bharati

2. WHAT ARE POLITICAL
PARTIES?

3. • A politicalpartyis a groupof peoplewhocometogetherto contest
electionsandholdpowerinthegovernment.
• Theyagreeon somepoliciesandprogrammesfora societywitha
viewto promotecollectivegood.
• A politicalpartyhasthreemaincomponents-
1.Theleaders
2.Theactivemembersand
3. Thesupporters.

4. WHAT A COMMON INDIAN
THINK ABOUT POLITICAL
PARTIES?
Most people in India tend to be very
critical of political parties. They
blame parties for all the wrong with
our democracy and our political life.
the parties were also identified with
social and political divisions in our
country.

5. WHY DO WE NEED POLITICAL
PARTIES?
We can understand the necessity of
political parties by imagining a situation
where political parties doesn’t exist. Every
candidate in the elections will be
independent , so no candidate will be able
to make any promises to the people about
any major changes. The government may
be formed but its utility will remain ever
uncertain. Elected representatives will be
accountable to their consistency only. No

6. TYPES OF POLITICAL
PARTIESThere are two types of political parties –
1. National parties – A party that
secures at least 6% of the total votes
in lok sabha elections or assembly
elections in four states and win at
least 4 seats in lok sabha is
recognized as a national party.
2. State / Regional parties – A party that
secures atleast 6% of the of the
total votes in state legislative
assembly elections and wins at least
2 seats is recognized as state party.

7. Functions of the political
parties
 Parties contest elections.
Parties form and run governments in country.
Parties put different policies and programmes.
Parties play a decisive role in making laws for a
country.
Those parties that lose in the elections play the
role of opposition to the parties in power.
Parties shape public opinion by raising and
highlighting issues.
Parties provide people access to gov.t machinery
and welfare schemes implemented.

8. Owing to the diverse geographical, social and
cultural concerns, India has nurtured the
growth of the multi-party system. Over a
period of time, national and regional
political parties became the vital
constituents of the world’s largest
democracy, India. Whether the proliferation
of parties has helped the country’s cause, is
a different debate altogether. However, it’s
important to know what exactly these
political parties stand for and what role do
they play within the parliamentary democracy.
DEMOCRACYIN INDIA

9. PowersVestedinPoliticalPartiesinIndia
Every political party has its own set of vision
and ideologies , which are often aligned with the
needs and concerns of the state or region they
belong to.
Once people choose them during the
elections, they become legitimate rulers of the
country.
 The party members get the power to run the
executive, as well as the legislative machinery of
India.

10. Roles& Responsibilitiesof RulingPartiesinIndia
 The party that wields the power also bears certain
responsibilities.
 The primary onus of building political and social
consciousness lies on the parties.
 Under the greater objective of serving the nation
and its people, there are several smaller goals that
parties set for themselves to ensure that public
concerns are allayed, social indicators are favored
and corruption is eradicated.

11. In case of a coalition
setup, the national and
regional parties work
together to become a
platform for common people
to put forward their views.
 They become the voice
of the people by
representing them at a

12. Roles& Responsibilitiesof Opposition
Partiesin India
 While the primary role of the ruling party is to run the
government effectively, the ones who sit in the opposition also have
their tasks cut out.
 They position themselves as government watchdogs, with the
sole mission of scrutinizing the ruling party’s actions.
 It is incumbent upon them to prevent the ruling party from
becoming dictatorial.
 On a much broader level, the opposition gives a probing look
into the performance of the government and sees to it that good
governance benefits the entire nation and not just a few
communities.
 In India, the opposition parties are quick to act against faulty
policies and unjust laws.
 There had been incidents when strong protests were staged
against certain bills forcing the government to retract.

13.  However, there is a downside to excessive
interference and impudence at various levels of
functioning.
 It often derails the development process.
 The political parties in India, both the ruling
and the opposition, need to practice more
discretion and broaden their outlook to contribute
towards the holistic growth of the country.

14. MAJOR NATIONAL POLITICAL
PARTIES
S.N. Symbol Flag Name Acronym Year Party leader
1. Bahujan Samaj Party BSP 1984 Mayawati
2. Bharatiya Janata Party BJP 1980 Nitin Gadkari
3.
Communist Party of
India
CPI 1925 A.B. Bardhan
4.
Communist Party of
India (Marxist
CPI (M) 1964 Prakash Karat
5.
Indian National
Congress
INC 1885 Sonia Gandhi
6.
Nationalist Congress
Party
NCP 1999 Sharad Pawar

15. A presentation by
Harshpreet Kaur
Of Class XI- A