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India’s Political Parties
This book, sixth in the series of essential readings in Indian government and politics, examines different characteristics of Indian political parties: Why are the parties not well organised? Why do the top echelons in each party not practise democracy within the party when they exist in a democratic environment? How do parties deal with identity crisis? The book has different essays by prominent political scientists like Rajni Kothari, Yogendra Yadav, Achin Vanaik, Bruce D. Graham, Valerian Rodrigues and a few selected more. All the writers have presented their thoughts in the form of a discussion. The idea is not only to discuss the evolution of political parties in India, but also to explore the character of national as well as regional parties in terms of their organisation, ideology and social base. The idea of a "party-less" democracy was considered at the time of Independence. Mahatma Gandhi also wanted the Congress to dismantle as a party, though none took his idea seriously as it would have lead to upheaval in the status quo of many vested interests. In this context, M. N. Roy contends in Politics Without Party that "even the largest party cannot embrace more than a small fraction of the people". He dreamt of power with the people, and it was a step in this direction that Roy dissolved the Radical Democratic Party in December 1948. Jayaprakash Narayan’s essay, A Plea for the Reconstruction of the Indian Polity, is undeniably informative as well as interesting. He highlights various factors like demagoguery, centralism, declining political ethics of parliamentary democracy. In Shiv Sena: A Tiger with Many Faces? Suhas Palshikar captures the reader’s attention right from the beginning. Palshikar discusses the electoral arena of the Shiv Sena, the organisational dynamics, the role of the founding leader, Bal Thackeray, and the nature of the Sena’s appeal. For a Mumbaikar, the Sena is a reality; but for the rest of the country, it is an enigma. Lots of questions are asked regarding its functioning, the control of local leaders and its populist appeal. Palshikar answers these and many such questions. Similarly, K.C. Suri traces the rise of N. T. Rama Rao and his Telugu Desam Party as the emergence of a new era in the politics of Andhra Pradesh. Till then Andhra Pradesh had been the citadel of the Congress Party. Kishwar’s comments on representation of women in legislatures are worth reading. She vehemently opposes reservation, for she feels that empowerment of a few women will not help empower the ordinary women, as the women in politics are confined to their political parties only. They are sidelined within their parties and seldom assert themselves. There is no solidarity among women, who are divided on party lines. Kishwar elucidates various other measures to enhance women’s participation. Similarly, the rest of the papers are assertive commentaries in themselves. An effort has been made to understand the changing equation of power politics in India. The essays included in the volume have been selected with great care to cover the wide gamut of political parties in the Indian political arena. However, the exclusion of an important regional party, Shiromani Akali Dal, in this volume is a serious lacuna. Though Myron Weiner has devoted some part of his paper Party Politics and Electoral Behaviour: From Independence to the 1980’s to the party under Religious Regionalism: The Akali Dal, justice has not been not done to a party that claims to be the "sole spokesman" of the Sikhs and poses a challenge to the Congress in Punjab. The editors have expressed their eagerness and helplessness in this regard. Maybe they have plans to cover it in their successive issues.
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