Since its independence, India has come a long way in terms of its democratic journey. It has faced many challenges and has its own set of unique problems. Today, about 80 percent of the Indian population is Hindu, and the recent political and social trends show that there is a rise of a Hindu Nationalism in India. There are many factors like, the decreasing popularity and power of Congress over the years, party fragmentation and rise in leadership and popularity of the BJP that are responsible for the electoral rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is the current political party in power. This electoral rise of BJP and Hindu Nationalism may have various consequences for Indian politics, depending on if the BJP as a party can moderate
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The popularity and support for Congress from early on, was tied to its involvement in the liberation movement and Independence of India. As a major political party, Congress politics was dominated by the upper class, and the party remained in power nationally as the governing body of India till 1977. Congress was a very popular political party with charismatic leaders like Nehru, and therefore was able to come to power with majority in the parliament, and stay in power for multiple terms. However, around 1967 it started to lose State assembly elections to local State parties, and we start to see non-Congress government in certain States (the reflection of this is later seen in the national level in 1989 and 1991). In 1977, it losses power for the very first time, but manages to come back in power in 1980 and then loses again in 1989. However, by then the party system in India gets fragmented and we see a decline in the vote share of Congress in the subsequent years to come ahead. Till that point Congress was a hegemonic umbrella party that could bring different interest groups together and form a majority government. After 1989 we start to see a decline of Congress as it begins to lose power and support. Congress being a center left party, always had a strong support from the masses; lower classes and the poor population, and so could fall back on the lower …show more content…
India has a multiparty system providing representation for a variety of identities and interest groups. After 1967 we start to see a rise in the number, and influence of existing parties in the State level, as they begin to win State assembly elections and form non-Congress governments in the States. Before this time period, Congress used to be the only major party in both State and National levels, as being a hegemonic party it had no real competitors that challenged its majority, and the electoral party system in India was not yet fragmented. However, after the loss of Congress in 1989, we start to see a change as by then the Indian party system gets fragmented. Congress was a coalition of unequals and once the most unequal developed an elite class over time, they formed their own parties and left Congress. When a party deliberately underrepresents certain parts of the party/population, then that leads to the fragmentation of the party itself and it starts to lose power and support. There is a reflection of the State assembly elections in the National level in 1989, 1991 as Congress loses majority and there are parties competing for seats in the parliament in the National level. As Congress declined in popularity and power, and fails to fulfill the demands of the poor and lower classes, we
The popularity and support for Congress from early on, was tied to its involvement in the liberation movement and Independence of India. As a major political party, Congress politics was dominated by the upper class, and the party remained in power nationally as the governing body of India till 1977. Congress was a very popular political party with charismatic leaders like Nehru, and therefore was able to come to power with majority in the parliament, and stay in power for multiple terms. However, around 1967 it started to lose State assembly elections to local State parties, and we start to see non-Congress government in certain States (the reflection of this is later seen in the national level in 1989 and 1991). In 1977, it losses power for the very first time, but manages to come back in power in 1980 and then loses again in 1989. However, by then the party system in India gets fragmented and we see a decline in the vote share of Congress in the subsequent years to come ahead. Till that point Congress was a hegemonic umbrella party that could bring different interest groups together and form a majority government. After 1989 we start to see a decline of Congress as it begins to lose power and support. Congress being a center left party, always had a strong support from the masses; lower classes and the poor population, and so could fall back on the lower …show more content…
India has a multiparty system providing representation for a variety of identities and interest groups. After 1967 we start to see a rise in the number, and influence of existing parties in the State level, as they begin to win State assembly elections and form non-Congress governments in the States. Before this time period, Congress used to be the only major party in both State and National levels, as being a hegemonic party it had no real competitors that challenged its majority, and the electoral party system in India was not yet fragmented. However, after the loss of Congress in 1989, we start to see a change as by then the Indian party system gets fragmented. Congress was a coalition of unequals and once the most unequal developed an elite class over time, they formed their own parties and left Congress. When a party deliberately underrepresents certain parts of the party/population, then that leads to the fragmentation of the party itself and it starts to lose power and support. There is a reflection of the State assembly elections in the National level in 1989, 1991 as Congress loses majority and there are parties competing for seats in the parliament in the National level. As Congress declined in popularity and power, and fails to fulfill the demands of the poor and lower classes, we