PSIR Optional (Political Parties) by Viraj C Rane

Model Answer

Question #1. Analyse the role played by regional parties in Indian Political System?And do they pose a challenge to unity and integrity of India?  10 marks (150 words)

Approach:

• Intro: Regional parties an integral part of Indian politics; bring the regional issues to the national platform.
• Body: The diverse role played by them: coalition politics, refining governance and enhancing competitive federalism.
• Conclusion: Despite their shortcoming, they ensure popular participation of grass roots in political process and democratise politics.

According to Milan Vaishnav, regional political parties are eternal theme of Indian politics. Regional parties operate within limited geographic area and bank on language, minority, religion etc. The presence of a large number of regional parties is an important feature of the Indian Political System. According to SudhaPai, regional parties are rooted in regional ground. They should not be seen as a by-product of regionalism, rather phenomenon in its own right. It is a result of linguistic reorganization, decline in congress system, uneven development etc.

Role played by regional parties:

• According to Milan Vaishnav, the rise of regional parties and resultant political competition have led to a greater fragmentation of the vote. The net result has often been regional parties crowding out national parties as seen in UP post the emergence of SP and BSP after the Mandal reforms.
• Milan Vaishnav argues that many of the leading power brokers in Indian politics hail from regional parties like Mulayam Singh, SharadPawar of NCP.
• In the coalition era the ‘State leaderships’ tried to become more and more vocal in their dealings with the central leadership and the Centre began becoming more responsive to the needs and demands of regional actors. Role played by TDP in NDA I and DMK in UPA I and UPA II
• Some observers view regional parties as catalysts for redefining governance. To make their case, they point to the rise of a new class of state leaders, like Nitish Kumar of Janata Dal (United) in the state of Bihar or Biju Janata Dal’s Naveen Patnaik of Odisha, who have demonstrated that good economics can also make for good politics. 
• Milan Vaishnav points out that regional parties lack institutionalization, intra party democracy and rally behind the leader with no second rung leadership.

Challenge to unity and integrity?

• A desire to maintain cultural distinctness has been at the roots of the regional movements which led by DMK, AIADMK (Tamil Nadu); Akali Dal (in Punjab) and the AGP in Assam led to growth of regional parties and political mobilisation based on regional identities. 
• It is said that secessionist tendencies are a reaction to reduction in state autonomy and perceived injustice in allocation of funds and the imposing of Hindi language rather than a serious ideological rift.
• In the past the separatist organisations like ULFA; and unions ABSU (statehood of Bodoland) got support from regional parties. While ABSU suspended its movement; ULFA suspended its operations after agreement with Central Government.
• It can be said that India has successfully addressed the secessionist tendencies in the regions and the solution to Naga issue is being dealt now; with the Naga Peace accord being signed in 2015.

Conclusion:

It can be said that regional parties made politics more competitive and popular participation in the political process more extensive at the grass roots. Despite their shortcomings they were able to bring the local issue to the national platform demanding solutions. They not only strengthen the federal system but also ensure that national politics is democratised.

Question #2. Green revolution led to the emergence of multi-party competition in Indian politics. Do you agree with this view? Substantiate. 15 marks (250 words)

Approach:

• Introduction: Green Revolution: meaning and its outcome.
• Body: Its impact on the One-Party model and the reasons for emergence of middle peasantry.
• Conclusion: Why multi-party system is important and the need for political parties to accommodate new interest groups is important.

The green revolution heralded a new era for agriculture in India, but it also changed the country’s politics, the effects of which are still being felt today. The green revolution, a period of rapid technological change in agriculture stemming from the Introductionduction of high-yielding variety (HYV) crops, transformed India’s agricultural sector between the 1960s and 1980s, ending perennial food shortages and giving rise to ‘modern’ farming based on the intensive usage of inputs like fertiliser, pesticide, and mechanisation. 

Impact on Single Party dominant System:

• In the decades after independence in 1947, political power in India was monopolised by a single party: the Indian National Congress.
• Over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, the Congress party’s grip on political power faded, as agrarian and regional opposition parties across the country emerged.
• A new section called middle peasantry emerged; it consisted of castes that had not been part of the core base of the Congress and was not granted a position of commensurate influence in the party power structure.
• This led to broadening of social profile for active political mobilization by new parties like BLD in the North and TDP in the South
• The emergence of this middle peasantry as an important 'demand group', as they were termed by Rudolph and Rudolph, was directly related to the Green Revolution strategy of the 1960s.

Reasons for emergence:

• First, farmers grew wealthier and therefore became less dependent on traditional patron-client ties to the Congress party.
• Second, because HYV crop cultivation was extremely dependent on the usage of inputs like pesticide, fertiliser, electricity, irrigation, and mechanisation, farmers gained the incentives to mobilise to obtain greater subsidies for agriculture.
• Third, the improved productivity of HYV crops exerted downward pressure on crop market prices, providing a focal point for cross-class collective action by farmers to demand higher crop procurement prices from the Indian government. 

The agrarian and regional opposition parties offered not only subsidies but descriptive representation for excluded groups. Gaining representation legislatures was important to gaining direct control over agricultural policies.

Criticism:

By increasing the political power of rural groups, the green revolution also gave rise to a regime of extensive subsidisation of the agricultural sector. This has had its share of negative consequences, not least an ecological crisis stemming from the rapid depletion of aquifers and over-usage of toxic pesticides which have, paradoxically, been detrimental to rural communities. 

Conclusion:

Innovation in crop technology played a key role in India’s historical transition from single-party dominance to multi-party competition, one of the most important episodes of democratic deepening of the 20th century.  Joseph Schumpeter famously termed technological change a form of ‘creative destruction’ to highlight its disruptive consequences. The green revolution illustrates that technological change also represents an important disruptive force in politics. This suggests that political parties must adapt to change and be flexible to accommodate new interest groups.