Politics in India

India, being the largest democracy in the world, has the largest number of political parties, which take part in the election campaigns.

According to the reports, in the 1996 national elections almost 600 million people participated and voted.

There are different political issues in the Indian politics, including national level issues and some regional level issues. Some communities demand more economic and social rights for their own communities, and other communities demand more autonomy for their cultures in India. Some communities also demand for autonomous states within the Indian Union and some others demand to be independent from India.

But still with its own problems, India is surviving as a single state with its democratic character. A number of political problems are still unresolved in India.

India earned its independence from the British on the 15th August, 1947 and on 26th January, 1950, it declared itself as a Republic. From that day the Constitution of India came into force. Today India is a federation or union, including 28 states and 7 union territories.

The lack of homogeneity in the Indian population is the main cause of the division between different sections of the people on the basis of religion, region, language and caste. This is the reason due to which different political parties were set up, catering to one or a mix of groups. Parties in India also target people favoring other parties, and they try to use them as an asset.

Some parties openly apply their focus on a particular group. Some parties claim to be universal in nature. They tend to draw support from particular sections of the Indian population.

The National People's Party (NPP) has a vote bank among the Yadav and Muslim population. Even Trinamool Congress (TMC) does not have any significant supporters outside West Bengal. The narrow focus on vote bank politics of most parties sidelines many national issues like economic welfare and also the national security. For this the internal security is also threatened. Many incidences of political parties lead violence between two opposing groups of people, it is a frequent occurrence in India. Some economic issues like poverty and unemployment are the main issues which influence politics. ‘Garibi hatao’ is a common slogan of the Indian National Congress (INC). Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), current elected Government of India, also encourages a free market economy with their popular slogan “Sab Ka Sath, Sab ka Vikas.” The Communist Party of India (CPI), from West Bengal, support left-wing politics and issues due to globalization, capitalism and privatization.

Terrorism, religious violence, and caste-related violence are also important issues which affect the political environment of India. Many anti-terror legislation like TADA, POTA and MCOCA have received political attention, both in favor and opposed by many political parties. Still India, being a developing country, is progressing with activities of many political parties. These political parties are working day and night for the betterment of one single nation ‘India.’