India is a land of diversity. As there are varied languages, religions, castes and cultures in India, so are the political parties. Indian political system is segregated into two categories. One is central parties that fall under the mainstream politics; the other is regional political parties. Each political party should get the accordance from the Election Commission of India. To be a national party, the party needs to win 2% of the seats in the Lok Sabha from three different states. Also, the party should be recognized as the state level party in four or more states. However, though there are many Political Parties in India, very few can successfully make their presence felt at the national level excluding the alliances. A party should be able to come out from the shackles of regional values and should be able to think on larger sense. Amidst the array of parties there are some leading parties that are able to influence India as a whole.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the present ruling party of India that is recognized as the symbol of Lotus. Founded in 1980, BJP has come a long way with its ideology of “integral humanism.” This party is committed to Hindutva and administers a clean India in coming years under the Governance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Narendra Modi has won the 2014 election with a landslide victory of majority votes. The shrewd mind, and versatility of Amit Shah and eloquence, expertise of Narendra Modi is fundamental to becoming the governing party of India.
Indian National Congress (INC)
The symbol of Indian National Congress (INC), as approved by the Election Commission of India, is the right-hand palm side facing the front. It is the oldest party in India founded during the days of British colonization. Starting from Late Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, the party has been led by Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, P.V Narasimha Rao, and Manmohan Singh. Sonia Gandhi is working as the present parliamentary chairperson of the party administers ideologies like, social democracy, populism, democratic socialism, liberal nationalism, and progressivism. Till 2014 INC was in the reign for 11 years.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is a communist party, which started from the split from the Communist Party of India in 1964. This party has more influence in the states like Kerala, West Bengal, and Tripura. Based on the philosophy of Karl Marx and Lenin, this party has got 1, 065,406 membership till 2013. CPM is all famous for its anti-capitalist and anti-globalization attitude. Presently Prakash karat has taken the responsibility of the position of general secretary of the party.
Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India, briefly CPI was founded on 25 December 1925 at the first Kanpur Party Conference. With its philosophy of communism and socialism, it is the only national political party In India to have contested all the elections with the same electoral symbol. On the central level, CPI supported Indian National Congress led UPA government from outside. CPI was regarded as one of the leading national parties in India till 2014, as it fails to poll the minimum required vote for the win.
Bahujan Samaj Party
Bahujan Samaj Party is another major leading national party in India that represents the large section of people, including scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward castes. This party was emerged by the effort of leader Kanshi Ram in 1984 and was handed to Mayawati in 2003. Represented by the symbol of an elephant, BSP has acclaimed as the third most voted party in 2014 Indian general election. It has its foundation in the largest state of India, i.e. Uttar Pradesh.
Nationalist Congress Party
Nationalist Congress Party has its base in the states of Maharashtra and Kerala. This party was formed on 25th May 1999, by veteran politicians Sharad Pawar, P.A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar. They were expelled from the Congress Party for arguing against the right of Italian-born Sonia Gandhi to lead the party. However, P.A Sangma left the NCP on 2012 to contest in presidential polls. This party is symbolized by an analogue clock that can be read as 10:10.
Aam Aadmi Party
Aam Aadmi Party is relatively a recent addition in leading political group that was formally started on 26th November 2012. With Swaraj and Anti-corruption being the ideology, this political party emerged as the second largest party in the 2013 Delhi legislative assembly election.
Thus, with the pool of mentioned political parties India is considered as having a multi – party system. These political parties have gloriously influenced the mind of Indians and strive their best to keep an eye on the work culture of the ruling party.
