CBSE Class 12 Political Science Era of One party Dominance Notes Set B

Era of One-Party Dominance

Challenge of Building Democracy

• The Election Commission of India was set-up in January 1950. Sukumar Sen was the first Chief Election Commissioner.
• India’s vast size and low literacy rate etc were some of challenges to hold general elections in 1952. Despite these challenges the election was held successfully in 1952.

Changing Methods of Voting

• In the first general election it was decided to place inside each polling booth a box for each candidate with the election symbol of that candidate.
• By 2004 the entire country had shifted to the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

First Three General Elections

• The Congress dominated in the first three general elections. It had many popular faces like Jawaharlal Nehru, C Rajagopalachari, Vallabhbhai Patel etc. Moreover Jawaharlal Nehru was charismatic and a very popular leader.
• Congress worked at upper level as well as at grass root level. Congress was popularised due to the participation in Civil Disobedience Movement.
• In Kerala, in 1957 the Communist Party came to power in the world for the first time through democratic elections.
• This was the first state where Non-Congress Government was formed after independence.

Nature of Congress Dominance

• The dominance of Congress party was in democratic condition. The roots of extraordinary success of the Congress party go back to the legacy of the freedom struggle.
• The Congress brought together diverse groups, whose interests were often contradictory.
• By the time of independence, the Congress was transformed into a rainbow-like social coalition broadly representing India’s diversity in terms of classes and castes, religions and languages and various interests.
• This coalition-like character of Congress gave it an unusual strength.

Tolerance and Management of Factions

• Groups within party with diverse ideologies are called factions. Some of these factions were based on ideological considerations but very often these factions were rooted in personal ambitions and rivalries.
• The coalition nature of the Congress party tolerated and in fact encouraged various factions.

Emergence of Opposition Parties

• The roots of almost all the Non-Congress parties of today can be traced to one or the other of the opposition parties of the 1950s.
• These opposition parties offered a sustained and often principled criticism of the policies and practices of the Congress party.
• This kept the ruling party under check and often changed the balance of power within the Congress.

Socialist Party

• The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was formed within the Congress in 1934 by a group of young leaders who wanted a more radical and egalitarian Congress.
• In 1948, the Congress amended its Constitution to prevent its members from having a dual party membership. This forced the socialists to form a separate socialist party in 1948.
• They criticised the Congress for favouring capitalists and landlords and for ignoring the workers and peasants.

The Communist Party of India (CPI)

• In the early 1920s communist groups emerged in different parts of India taking inspiration from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.
• In 1951 the communist party abandoned the path of violent revolution and decided to participate in the approaching general elections.
• AK Gopalan, SA Dange, EMS Namboodripad; PC Joshi, Ajay Ghosh and P Sundarraya were among the notable leaders of the CPI.

Bhartiya Jana Sangh [BJS]

• The Bhartiya Jana Sangh was formed in 1951 with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as its founder President.
• It emphasised the idea of one country, one culture and one nation and believed that the country could become modem, progressive and strong on the basis of Indian culture and traditions.

Swatantra Party

• Swatantra party was formed in August in 1959. The party was led by old Congressmen like C. Rajgopalachari, KM Munshi, NG Ranga and MinooMasani.
• The party was critical of the development strategy of state intervention in the economy, centralised planning, nationalisation and the public sector. It instead favoured expansion of a free private sector.

FACTS THAT MATTER

1. After independence, our leaders became conscious of critical role of politics in a democracy as they wanted to run politics as a method to sort out problems as well as to decide and pursue the public interest.

2. Consequently, the Election Commission of India came into existence in January 1950, Sukumar Sen became first Chief Election Commissioner of India to hold elections in the country. This commission required the drawing of the boundaries of electoral constituencies, electoral roll consisting eligible voters to hold free and fair elections.

3. The first general election of India became a landmark due to its competitiveness, encouraging participation, fair results and proved its critics wrong not to hold elections in conditions of poverty.

4. In the 1952 election Congress party scored a big victory but it was not in power in the states like Travancore—Cochin i.e. Kerala, Madras and Orissa. Congress dominated in India due to identification with freedom struggle, popular appeal of charismatic leaders, a broad manifesto including every section of society and consensus building role of party.

5. Congress was founded by Dr. A.O. Hume in 1885 as a view to express the feelings of discontentment changed to a political party in the form of social and ideological coalition by accommodating different social groups and individuals holding different beliefs and ideologies. Even in pre-independence days, many organisation and parties with their own constitutions and organisational structures were allowed to exist within the Congress.

6. Factions are the groups formed inside the party. The coalition nature of the Congress Party encouraged various factions which were based on either ideological considerations or personal ambitions or rivalries.

7. Before the first General Election of 1952, some of the vibrant and opposite parties came into existence which gained as a token of representation only to maintain democratic character. These parties kept ruling party under check, prevented resentment, groomed leaders, alongwith a mutual respect and among Congress leaders as well as opposition parties leaders.

8. The origin of the socialist party can be traced back to the mass movement stage of the Indian National Congress which was formed in 1934 by Acharya Narendra Dev and later on, it was separated to form socialist party in 1948 with ideology of democratic socialism and criticised capitalism.

9. In the early 1920s communist groups emerged in different parts of India having a belief of communism. The Communist Party of India was primarily secular, modem and authoritarian.

10. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was formed in 1951 by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee with the ideology of one country, one culture and one nation and called for a reunion of India and Pakistan in Akhand Bharat.

11. Swatantra Party was formed in August 1959 after the Nagpur Resolution of the Congress which called for land ceilings. It’s important leaders were C. Rajgopalachari, K.M. Munshi, N.G. Ranga, and MinooMasani. Its ideology emphasised on the free economy and less involvement of government in controlling the economy and advocated closer relations with the USA.

WORDS THAT MATTER

1. Electronic Voting Machine (EVM): It is a voting machine to record voters’ performances on electric device, used through election processes.

2. First Past the Post System: This is the simple majority system in which the candidate gets the maximum amount of votes is declared as elected.

3. Ideological Oriented Party: It is the party in which policies and decisions are formulated under ideological considerations.

4. Interest-Oriented Party: This party protects particular interests and promotes the same also i.e. caste, community, region, tribes etc.

5. Charismatic Leader Oriented Party: It is the party in which leader holds a very strong position and is the nucleus of the party.

ASSIGNMENT ON ERA OF ONE PARTY DOMINANCE.

Question 1. When did Hindu Mahasabha come into existence?
(a) 1924
(b) 1914
(c) 1885
(d) 1913
Answer: (b) 1914

Question 2. What is meant by ‘one-party dominance’ in the Indian context?

Answer: In the Indian context, one-party dominance refers to the period after independence, specifically during the first three general elections, when the Indian National Congress consistently won a vast majority of seats at both the centre and the states, despite the presence of a multi-party system and democratic competition.

Question 3. Differentiate between one party dominance and one party system.

Answer: A one-party system is a non-democratic arrangement where only one political party is legally allowed to exist and hold power. In contrast, one-party dominance occurs in a competitive democratic system where multiple parties exist and contest elections, but one party happens to be significantly more successful than the others for a prolonged period.

Question 4. Who was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly?

Answer: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

Question 5. What were the election symbols of the Congress Party and Bharatiya Jana Sangh in the first general election of 1952?

Answer: In the 1952 general election, the symbol for the Congress Party was a pair of bullocks carrying a yoke, while the symbol for the Bharatiya Jana Sangh was a lamp (Deepak).

Question 6. How did the dominance of Congress Party in the first three general elections help in establishing a democratic set-up in India?

Answer: The Congress's dominance provided much-needed political stability to the young nation. Because it won through free and fair elections within a competitive framework, it helped institutionalize democratic processes. Its inclusive "rainbow coalition" nature ensured that various social and ideological groups felt represented, preventing extremist revolts and fostering a culture of consensus.

Question 7. Why was the first general election in India considered unusual?

Answer: It was considered unusual because of the massive scale of the exercise in a country with widespread poverty and low literacy levels. Many critics and observers believed that democracy could not survive in such conditions, but the successful conduct of the election proved that democracy could work anywhere.

Question 8. How has the method of voting changed from the first General Election of 1952 to the General Election of 2004?

Answer: In 1952, voters dropped a blank ballot paper into separate boxes assigned to each candidate, which were placed inside the polling booth. This evolved into the use of a single ballot paper where voters marked their choice. By 2004, the entire country transitioned to Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Question 9. Explain any five reasons for the dominance of the Congress Party in the first three general elections.

Answer:

• Legacy of the freedom struggle as the primary national movement.
• charismatic and popular leadership, particularly Jawaharlal Nehru.
• A well-established nationwide organizational network down to the village level.
• Its nature as a broad "social and ideological coalition" that could accommodate diverse interests.
• The lack of a strong, unified opposition that could match its mass appeal.

Question 10. State the ideologies of the Swatantra Party.

Answer: The Swatantra Party advocated for a free-market economy with minimal government interference. It opposed centralized planning, nationalization, and the public sector, favoring instead the expansion of a free private sector. It also called for closer relations with the USA and was critical of land ceiling policies.

These groups inside the party are called factions. The coalitional nature of the Congress party tolerated and in fact encouraged various factions. Some of these factions were based on ideological considerations but very often these factions were rooted in personal ambitions and rivalries. Instead of being a weakness, internal factionalism became a strength of the Congress. Since there was room within the party for various factions to fight with each other, it meant that leaders representing different interests and ideologies remained within Congress rather than go out and form a new party.

1. Which trend in the Congress party is worth emulating?
Answer: The trend of tolerance and encouragement of internal factions is worth emulating, as it allows for diverse ideological representation within a unified framework, fostering democratic consensus.

2. What were the reasons for forming the various factions in the Congress party?
Answer: Factions were formed based on either specific ideological considerations or personal ambitions and rivalries among different leaders.

3. Why did the Congress leaders have no desire to form new parties leaving Congress? Give reasons.
Answer: Leaders stayed within Congress because the party provided enough internal "room" for different groups to compete and resolve conflicts. The coalition nature meant that various interests were already represented, and internal competition was seen as a way to influence party policy without needing to start a separate organization.