UNIT - 5
SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS OF POLITICAL PROCESSES
The Constitution of Independent India came into effect on 26 January, 1950. With its adoption India officially became a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic. The Indian Constitution has established a parliamentary sort of government both at the Centre and therefore the State.
Though the President is the head of the executive, the real powers are vested with the cabinet and therefore the Prime Minister who are responsible to the Loksabha. Similarly Governor is that the executive head of the States, but the real powers are exercised through Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers, who are responsible to the legislative assembly. The members of Loksabha and State legislative assemblies are elected through elections by citizens of the country. Hence elections are the base for the formation of governments. Therefore the political parties who contest the elections become part and parcel of political system of the country. In India we've multi-party system to make sure the representation of various sort of people who reside in it. We shall now broadly discuss the party system in India.
The party system is the base of democracy. It’s a link between people and therefore the government. A political party is a platform for people with common ideologies. Every political party aims to contest elections to be a part of legislative and executive organs of the govt. Through representation within the parliament the party members function as agents of individuals and voice the grievances and challenges of the society.
India contains a multi-party system with the existence of parties at the national and State level. So as to contest elections every party must register itself to the election commission of India. The party that wins majority seats in elections forms the govt and implements the policies designed by its election manifesto. The party with second majority votes plays the role of opposition within the parliament and keeps an in depth eye on the functioning of the govt.
The types of political parties are often broadly classified into following categories:
National Parties:
Any party to be called as national level political party must fulfil following conditions: a. It must have had its candidates stood for last elections in at least four or more States for Loksabha or for legislative assembly and secured not less than 6 June 1944 of total valid votes in those elections. Additionally win at least four seats in Loksabha from any State or States.
b. It must have won at least 2 chronicles seats in Loksabha from a minimum of three different States.
Some of this national parties are; Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India etc.
State Parties:
The State parties promote regional languages, culture and interest of individuals of that region. To be recognized as a State party, it must fulfill following conditions:
In the last general elections to legislative assembly, the party candidates must have secured not less than 6% of total valid votes and must retain at least 2 members to State legislative assembly. Some of the renowned State political parties are; Shiv Sena (Maharashtra), AIADMK and DMK (Tamilnadu), Telgu Desam (Andhra Pradesh), Rashtriya Janata Dal ( Bihar), the National Conference ( Jammu and Kashmir) etc.
Dominance of Single Party:
The party system was introduced in India as an influence of western education. The Indian leaders had realized the importance of united efforts to attain independence. The political parties, thus, were established to demand for reforms from British government and eventually complete self-government. Various political parties had emerged before independence also but it had been Indian National Congress (INC) that remained one among the most popular and dominant political party. After independence apart from a brief period in the late 1970s the congress dominated the political scene till late 1980s. Congress leaders like J. Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi had dominated the Indian politics for many years. Though many other political parties emerged during that period, Congress was considered as the largest representative party of the country.
Emergence of multi- party system:
Internal factions led to the split within the Congress and by 1970s many new parties had emerged. In 1977, Janata party was formed which was a coalition of a minimum of five parties. This new party formed the first non-Congress government after independence. The increase of BJP and many regional parties in States reduced the dominance of Congress over Indian politics to a greater extent.
Coalition Party System
From 1990s an era of coalition started. Failure of huge national parties like Congress and BJP to win majority seats in elections has brought numerous small parties to the forefront. The big parties came to be dependent upon smaller parties for the formation of governments. In 1996 the elections led to the formation of ‘United Front’, a coalition of as many as 13 political parties. Similarly in 1999 a coalition party government of ‘National Democratic Alliance’ (NDA) was formed with BJP as a largest member of coalition.
Based on Personalities:
Instead of emphasizing on the strong organizational structure, the leaders or powerful personalities of the party are given more importance. Many of us join the party due to the charisma of a party leader for ex; Balasaheb Thackery, Mamta Banerjee, Mayawati, Jayalalitha, Lalu Prasad Yadav etc.
Absence of loyalty to ideology:
Every party relies on some ideology and when people join the party they're committed to its ideology. But things are changing fast. Most of the parties are interested in capturing power. Many candidates shuffle between parties to grab position within the government keeping aside the ideological commitment of the party.
Emergence of Regional Parties:
One of the reasons for the decline in the strength of national parties is that the emergence of various regional level parties. As selfish motives and desire to grab power has prompted many politicians to make independent parties? Each state has almost 2 to three strong regional parties. Tamilnadu has become stronghold of DMK and AIADMK; Punjab is dominated by Shiromani Akali Dal; Shivsena may be a powerful party in Maharashtra; National Conference is popular in Jammu and Kashmir etc.
Factions within the party:
Personality clashes, race to accumulate power, intrigues against one another has led to the weakness of the party. Frequent changing of party has increased factions within the party. Caste and regional loyalties also play a role in dividing the party further.
Emergence of Bi-polar party System:
By 1990s the one party dominance ended giving rise to coalition party government. The politics of alliances led to the polarization of parties. It reflects the various political interests. The regional parties are playing important role in the formation of government at the Centre. The non-Congress national also as regional parties acquired popularity and became viable alternatives. The rise of BJP and BJP led united front dominated the Centre by creating the second ‘pole’ in the Indian politics. However, Sonia Gandhi’s entry into active politics brought Congress back into the suitable alternatives. The formation of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and therefore the control over central government by this Congress led coalition government in recent years has transformed Indian politics into bipolar party system.
The concept of local self-government is known to Indian since ancient times. During the Vedic age, there existed village assemblies referred to as ‘Sabha’ and ‘Samiti’. Gradually cities and towns came into prominence. They also enjoyed greater level of autonomy in administration as witnessed during the Mauryan and Gupta period.
The system of local self-government in its modern sense was revived during British period
In a democratic country power is decentralized and shared at different levels. Apart from the Central and state government, the administration at the local level is handled by the local government in urban also as rural areas. The local Self- Government ensures effective people’s participation and ensures overall development. These small units of government enable people to feel a way of responsibility and understand values of democracy.
In India the Local Self Government is broadly classified into two categories that's Rural and urban.
The Urban local bodies include Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayat. The rural local bodies incorporate Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti and Gram Panchayat.
In urban areas a variety of local self-government institutions are found. They’re as follows;
The Municipal Corporation:
The system was introduced by the Britishers first in Madras in 1688 than in Bombay and Calcutta by 1762. The present structure of Municipal administration is essentially based on Lord Ripon’s reforms on local self-government introduced in 1882.
The 1992 Act brought uniformity in municipal bodies. The Municipal Corporations were set up for highly urbanized areas, Municipal Councils for smaller urban areas and Nagar Panchayat for areas in transition phase from rural to urban. The State legislature is empowered to create laws associated with functioning and powers of the local government.
The Municipal Corporation consists of the Council, wherein representatives from every ward are elected by the people referred to as Councillors for the term of 5 years.
The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are elected by the Councillors for a period of two and half years. They enjoy great honour within the city. Mayor is considered the first citizen of the city.
The MPs, MLAs are the ex-officio members of the corporation.
The Chief executive officer is appointed through the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) referred to as the Municipal Commissioner. The whole administrative staff is additionally appointed by the State.
The corporation also nominates some selected citizens as its members.
Functions of the Municipal Corporation:
It includes big variety of duties to be performed by the corporations to make sure overall development of the city i.e. economic, social, health and sanitation, infrastructure etc. The functions of Municipal Corporations are classified as obligatory and voluntary. a number of them are listed as follows;
Obligatory Functions:
1. Sanitation of hospitals, roads, maintenance of drainage of city,
2. Water supply for public and personal purposes,
3. Providing healthcare facilities, public vaccination and prevention of diseases,
4. Establishing hospitals, child and maternity welfare centres,
5. Providing street lights, cleaning of garbages from the town roads,
6. Registration of birth and death,
7. Maintenance of bridges and public buildings,
8. Providing primary education by fixing schools,
9. Naming of streets and numbering of streets and houses,
10. Maintaining and managing electricity supply,
11. Providing transport facilities to the town .
Voluntary Functions:
1. Constructing and maintaining public parks, gardens, libraries, museums, swimming pools, recreation centres etc.
2. Providing shelter to old, street children, destitute, orphans etc.,
3. Survey of buildings, lands etc.
Municipal Council:
The smaller cities are taken care by Municipal Councils. When the cities grow in size of population it's transformed under the administration of Municipal Corporations. The Council consists of;
i. The Council members are elected by the people for the term of 5 years.
Ii. President and Vice-President are elected by the members of the Council for the term of two and half years. The President is honoured because the first citizen of the town.
Iii. Each Council has among its appointed Staff, one executive officer and its subordinate staff and nominated selected citizens of the town.
Functions of the Municipal Council:
The functions of the Municipal Council are almost like that of Municipal Corporations which incorporates some obligatory functions and a few voluntary functions. To perform these functions various committees are created, namely, public works Committee, Education Committee, Sanitation Committee, water Committee, Planning and Development Committee, Women and Child Welfare Committee.
Nagar Panchayat
The composition and functions of the Nagar Panchyat are almost like Municipal Councils. Nagar Panchayats are established in those rural areas to be soon transformed into urban. Nagar Panchyat is created according to the 74th constitutional amendment.
The rural local self-government in India is additionally described as ‘Panchayat Raj’. It was a significant step taken for the upliftment of rural areas and to make sure rural development. On the premise of Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, Rajasthan was the first state to establish Panchayat Raj in India.. Thereafter entire rural India came under this technique. The main aims of the Panchayat Raj system were to promote social and economic development of rural areas, to create villages self-reliant and to provide with political education and training to rural people. Under the committee’s recommendation a 3 tier system of local government was established which is as follows:
Zilla Parishad:
It is a local government body at the district level. It’s after the administration of rural areas in a district. The members to the Parishad are elected by the people for the term of 5 years. Some seats are reserved for SC, ST, OBC and women. The President and Vice- President are elected for the term of two and half years. The Chief executive officer is appointed by the state government through Indian Administrative Services
The main functions of the Zilla Parishad include providing of facilities and initiating development programmes for the rural people. It houses various committees like Finance, Education, Health, Agriculture, Child Welfare, animal husbandry, public works, water system and irrigation etc.
Panchayat Samiti:
The Panchayat Samiti is made at the taluka level. Every Panchayat Samiti is headed by the Chairperson. Within the absence of Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson performs his functions.
The Block Development Officer (BDO) is that the executive head of the Panchayat Samiti. He is appointed by the state government and belongs to Indian Administrative Services.
Gram Panchayat:
It works at the village level. It’s formed in a village which has minimum 300 population or else two or more villages are clubbed together.
Sarpanch is that the head of the Gram Panchayat who enjoys the term of 5 years. He supervises and implements the resolutions gone by the Gram Panchayat. In his absence Deputy Sarpanch takes care of the affairs of the village.The functions of the Gram Panchayat include taking care of the basic amenities of the village.
Gramsevak is appointed by Zilla Parishad to hold out the routine work of the Gram Panchayat.
The 73rd constitutional amendment provided more powers to local self governments and created a 3 tier system for the rural areas. It empowered and caused better functioning of the Panchayat Raj
The 74th constitutional amendment provided similar guidelines for the urban areas.
Both the amendments provided guidelines to the States to make the local governments at the rural and urban level. It provided decentralization and democratization of power with greater participation of the people.
The Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992:
This amendment was passed in 1992 to produce constitutional status to the Panchayat Raj institutions. Following are its salient features:
A uniform three-tier structure of Panchayat Raj was created, namely, Zilla Parishad at district level, Panchayat Samiti at intermediate level and Gram Panchayat at village level.
All the seats at the panchayat level are elected by elections for the term of 5 years.
Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes
33% reservations of seats for ladies in these local self-governments
To hold and control the smooth elections to panchayats, a State election commission must be formed in every State.
Appointment of State Finance Commission to form recommendations regarding financial powers of the Panchayats
To set up District planning commission to plan for the development of the district.
Formation of ‘Gram Sabha’ to bring necessary changes within the village
The Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992:
The 74th amendment act brought stability and efficiency to the urban local self-government. Following are its main provisions:
Formation of three sorts of Municipalities namely; Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat
Adequate representation to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and ladies
It also introduces schedule 12th within the Constitution, which lists 18 subjects that comes under the jurisdiction of municipalities.
Greater financial and functional responsibilities to the municipalities
Constitution of State Finance Commission to review financial position of the municipalities and suggest measures to enhance their financial condition
Regular and fair conduct of elections
Creation of Ward Committees, District Planning Committees, Metropolitan Planning Committees for the preparation of development plans.
All the above provisions aimed toward making the municipal bodies an efficient instrument of local administration. Consistent with the 74th amendment several State governments amended their legislations to bring uniformity with the constitutional provisions.
However the State governments are entrusted with the final deciding authority.
The participation of women in politics isn't a new phenomenon. In past during early Vedic period women could become members of Sabha and Samiti However her position declined considerably after the end of Vedic age as she wasn't only denied the political rights but was confined to the four walls of the house. She faced many inequalities and was regarded inferior to men. Attempts were made to enhance her condition during the 19th century by many social reformers. Gradual improvement was seen thereafter. Many ladies participated in the struggle for independence also . However their participation remained less in number.
Enactment of Laws after Independence:
After independence various laws are enacted and various provisions are made to empower women. To bring about more of women’s participation in politics provisions are made for the reservation of seats within the legislature. In spite of this the participation of women in politics isn't satisfactory. As per the UN survey the parliamentary representation of women within the 15th Loksabha is 10.7%. This is often much less as compared to other countries ( South Africa- 44.5%, Britain- 17.12% )
The representation of women at the Panchayat Raj is almost 50% after passing of the 73rd Amendment Act, 1992. The women’s reservation bill is passed in Rajyasabha which provides 33% seats to women in parliament; however, the bill is yet to be passed in Loksabha.
Participation of women at the Centre:
The 15th Loksabha so far had the most important women members as compared to the earlier ones. The 14th Loksabha had 45 women and 15th Loksabha have a record of 59 women as Members of Parliament. Gradually younger women are entering the Loksabha. The 14th Loksabha had only 17% of ladies under 40, while 15th Loksabha has 29% of ladies below the age of 40.
Today three of the distinguished positions are in the hands of women. Meira Kumar is that the speaker of Loksabha, Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson of ruling UPA coalition party, Sushma Swaraj is that the leader of opposition within the Loksabha.
Role of women within the States:
State Assembly elections were held in May 2011 for four States and it gave us two female Chief Ministers i.e. Mamta Banerjee became Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jayalalitha became Chief Minister of Tamilnadu. Mayawati is another strong woman leader of Uttar Pradesh. At the age of 39, in 1995 Mayawati became the youngest politician to be elected as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and therefore the first Dalit woman Chief Minister of any State in India. Additionally Sheila Dixit became the Chief Minister of Union Territory of Delhi for the third consecutive term in 2009.
Role of girls in Local Self Government Bodies:
After the passing of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, the representation of women at the grass root level has increased by nearly 50%. Pioneering efforts in this direction were taken by the State of Karnataka in 1983 by offering reservations for ladies at the Panchayat level. Several States like Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand have increased women’s participation in panchayats to 50%. Women members of Panchayats have done remarkable work in improving the conditions of villagers in matters of healthcare, education, sanitation etc.
Obstacles faced by women within the participation of Politics:
Male Domination:
Male domination mindset is one of the main obstacles for women as politics is considered man’s area of interest and caliber. There's a lack of family support or cooperation because the political participation is time consuming together has to attend party meetings, organize workers, gathering mass support for the party by undertaking different activities to push party requires women to stay out of the house for a long time. In such scenario women face opposition from her family.
Role of Political Parties:
Many political parties have failed to offer enough representation to women. They’re less likely to involve them in party’s organizational bodies. Men are preferred while giving party tickets for contesting elections. Sometimes those tickets are offered to them where party has less chances of victory. After elections, the parties also are not willing to offer key portfolios to women Members of Parliament. Thus political parties also act sort of a hurdle in women’s active participation in politics.
Corruption and Criminalization of Politics:
Politics and contesting elections has been a costly affair in recent times. Corruption in elections and sabotaging of electoral booths are the methods adopted by many. Many criminal minded people are entering politics as they need huge chunk of black money. Women are considered misfit in such changing trends in politics.
Approach of government officials:
The elected members need to meet government officials so as to fulfil the promises to the electorate. However women representatives often face non-cooperation from the govt. Officers because of their biased approaches towards women which causes hurdle in their work and reduces their efficiency.
Poverty, Unemployment and Illiteracy:
Poverty is the major problem faced by India and women’s condition is even worse because the unemployment rate is high among women. Many women work in unorganized sector and hence are paid low wages. Literacy rate is also low just in case of women as compared to men. Such issues are the main obstacles in her political growth.
Psychological Barrier:
In general it's been observed that because of all above factors they need low self-esteem and lack confidence in themselves. Many women accept that politics is man’s world and they haven't any role to play in it. The traditional approach of members of the family as well as their own beliefs stops them from participating in active politics.
