Chapter 11- Era of One-Party

Dominance
Challenge of Building Democracy

 The Election Commission of India was set-up in January 1950.

Sukumar Sen was the first Chief Election Commissioner.
 India’s vast size and low literacy rate etc were some of challenges to
hold general elections in 1952. Despite these challenges the election
was held successfully in 1952.

Changing Methods of Voting

 In the first general election it was decided to place inside each polling
booth a box for each candidate with the election symbol of that
candidate.
 By 2004 the entire country had shifted to the Electronic Voting
Machine (EVM).

First Three General Elections

 The Congress dominated in the first three general elections. It had

many popular faces like Jawaharlal Nehru, C Rajagopalachari,
Vallabhbhai Patel etc. Moreover Jawaharlal Nehru was charismatic
and a very popular leader.
 Congress worked at upper level as well as at grass root level.
Congress was popularised due to the participation in Civil
Disobedience Movement.
 In Kerala, in 1957 the Communist Party came to power in the world
for the first time through democratic elections.
 This was the first state where Non-Congress Government was formed
after independence.

Nature of Congress Dominance

 The dominance of Congress party was in democratic condition. The

roots of extraordinary success of the Congress party go back to the
legacy of the freedom struggle.
 The Congress brought together diverse groups, whose interests were
often contradictory.
 By the time of independence, the Congress was transformed into a
rainbow-like social coalition broadly representing India’s diversity in
terms of classes and castes, religions and languages and various
interests.
  This coalition-like character of Congress gave it an unusual strength.

Tolerance and Management of Factions

 Groups within party with diverse ideologies are called factions. Some
of these factions were based on ideological considerations but very
often these factions were rooted in personal ambitions and rivalries.
 The coalition nature of the Congress party tolerated and in fact
encouraged various factions.

Emergence of Opposition Parties

 The roots of almost all the Non-Congress parties of today can be

traced to one or the other of the opposition parties of the 1950s.
 These opposition parties offered a sustained and often principled
criticism of the policies and practices of the Congress party.
 This kept the ruling party under check and often changed the balance
of power within the Congress.

Socialist Party

 The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was formed within the Congress
in 1934 by a group of young leaders who wanted a more radical and
egalitarian Congress.
 In 1948, the Congress amended its Constitution to prevent its
members from having a dual party membership. This forced the
socialists to form a separate socialist party in 1948.
 They criticised the Congress for favouring capitalists and landlords
and for ignoring the workers and peasants.

The Communist Party of India (CPI]

 In the early 1920s communist groups emerged in different parts of

India taking inspiration from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.
 In 1951 the communist party abandoned the path of violent revolution
and decided to participate in the approaching general elections.
 AK Gopalan, SA Dange, EMS Namboodripad; PC Joshi, Ajay Ghosh
and P Sundarraya were among the notable leaders of the CPI.

Bhartiya Jana Sangh [BJS]

 The Bhartiya Jana Sangh was formed in 1951 with Shyama Prasad
Mukherjee as its founder President.
 It emphasised the idea of one country, one culture and one nation
and believed that the country could become modem, progressive and
strong on the basis of Indian culture and traditions.
Swatantra Party

 Swatantra party was formed in August in 1959. The party was led by
old Congressmen like C. Rajgopalachari, KM Munshi, NG Ranga and
Minoo Masani.
 The party was critical of the development strategy of state
intervention in the economy, centralised planning, nationalisation and
the public sector. It instead favoured expansion of a free private
sector.

FACTS THAT MATTER

1. After independence, our leaders became conscious of critical role of

politics in a democracy as they wanted to run politics as a method to sort
out problems as well as to decide and pursue the public interest.

2. Consequently, the Election Commission of India came into existence in

January 1950, Sukumar Sen became first Chief Election Commissioner of
India to hold elections in the country. This commission required the drawing
of the boundaries of electoral constituencies, electoral roll consisting
eligible voters to hold free and fair elections.

3. The first general election of India became a landmark due to its

competitiveness, encouraging
participation, fair results and proved its critics wrong not to hold elections in
conditions of poverty. . –

4. In the 1952 election Congress party scored a big victory but it was not in
power in the states like Travancore—Cochin i.e. Kerala, Madras and
Orissa. Congress dominated in India due to identification with freedom
struggle, popular appeal of charismatic leaders, a broad manifesto
including every section of society and consensus building role of party.

5. Congress was founded by Dr. A.O. Hume in 1885 as a view to express

the feelings of discontentment changed to a political party in the form of
social and ideological coalition by accommodating different social groups
and individuals holding different beliefs and ideologies. Even in pre-
independence days, many organisation and parties with their own
constitutions and organisational structures were allowed to exist within the
Congress.

6. Factions are the groups formed inside the party. The coalition nature of
the Congress Party encouraged various factions which were based on
either ideological considerations or personal ambitions or rivalries.
7. Before the first General Election of 1952, some of the vibrant and
opposite parties came into existence which gained as a token of
representation only to maintain democratic character. These parties kept
ruling party under check, prevented resentment, groomed leaders,
alongwith a mutual respect and among Congress leaders as well as
opposition parties leaders.

8. The origin of the socialist party can be traced back to the mass
movement stage of the Indian National Congress which was formed in
1934 by Acharya Narendra Dev and later on, it was separated to form
socialist party in 1948 with ideology of democratic socialism and criticised
capitalism.
9. In the early 1920s communist groups emerged in different parts of India
having a belief of communism. The Communist Party of India was primarily
secular, modem and authoritarian.

10. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh wTas formed in 1951 by Shyama Prasad
Mukherjee with the ideology of one country, one culture and one nation and
called for a reunion of India and Pakistan in Akhand Bharat.

11. Swatantra Party was formed in August 1959 after the Nagpur
Resolution of the Congress which called for land ceilings. It’s important
leaders were C. Rajgopalachari, K.M. Munshi, N.G. Ranga, and Minoo
Masani. Its ideology emphasised on the free economy and less
involvement of government in controlling the economy and advocated
closer relations with the USA.

WORDS THAT MATTER

1. Electronic Voting Machine (EVM): It is a voting machine to record

voters’ performances on electric device, used through election
processes.
2. First Past the Post System: This is the simple majority system in
which the candidate gets the maximum amount of votes is declared
as elected.
3. Ideological Oriented Party: It is the party in which policies and
decisions are formulated under ideological considerations.
4. Interest-Oriented Party: This party protects particular interests and
promotes the same also i.e. caste, community, region, tribes etc.
5. Charismatic Leader Oriented Party: It is the party in which leader
holds a very strong position and is the nucleus of the party.
NCERT QUESTIONS

1. Choose the correct option to fill in the

blanks.
(a) The First General Elections in 1952 involved simultaneous
elections to
the Lok Sabha and………….
(The President of India/State Assemblies/Rajya Sabha/The Prime
Minister)
(b) The party that won the second largest number of Lok Sabha
seats in the first
elections was the …………
(Praja Socialist Party/Bharatiya Jana Sangh/Communist Party of
India/Bharatiya Janata Party)
(c) One of the guiding principles of the ideology of the Swatantra
Party was………
(Working class interest/protection of Princely States/Economy free
from State control/Autonomy of States within the Union)
Answer: (a) State Assemblies
(b) Communist Party of India
(c) Economy free from state control.

2. Match the following

Answer: (a)—(iv), (b)-(i), (c)-(w), (d)-(iii)

3. Four statements regarding one-party dominance are given

below. Mark each of them as true or false:
(a) One-party dominance is rooted in the absence of strong
alternative political parties
(b) One-party dominance occurs because of weak public opinion.
(c) One-party dominance is linked to the nation’s colonial past.
(d) One-party dominance reflects the absence of democratic ideals
in a country.
Answer: (a) True, (b) False, (c) True, (d) False

4. If Bharatiya Jana Sangh of the Communist Party of India had

formed the government after the first election, in which respects
would the policies of the government have been different? Specify
three differences each for both the parties.
Answer: 1. Bharatiya Jana Sangh:
The policies of Bharatiya Jana Sangh were based on the principles as
follows:
(a) It replaced secular concept by the ideology of one country, one
culture and one nation.
(b) No cultural and educational rights as this party opposed the granting
of concessions to religious and cultural minorities.
(c) It focused on the reunity of India and Pakistan under the concept of
Akhand Bharat.
2. Communist Party of India:
Communist Party of India would have been different on the principles as
follows:
(а) It worked for proportional representation in the govern-ment.
(б) This party followed communist ideology in various policies.
(c) It emphasised on a control over electronic mass media by an
autonomous body or corporation.

5. In what sense was the Congress an ideological coalition?

Mention the various ideological currents present within the
Congress.
Answer: The Congress Party became a social and ideological coalition
for it merged different social groups alongwith their identity holding
different beliefs:
1. It accommodated the revolutionary, conservative, pacifist, radical,
extremist and moderates and the rights and the left with all other shades
of the centre.
2. Congress became a platform for numerous groups, interests and
even political parties to take part in the national movement.
Ideological currents present within the Congress:
(a) In pre-independence days, many organisations and parties with their
own constitutions and organisational structures were allowed to exist
within the Congress.
(b) Some of these like “Congress Socialist Party” later seperated from
the Congress and became on opposition party.

6. Did the prevalence of a ‘one-party dominant system’ affect

adversely the democratic nature of Indian politics?
Answer: No, the prevalence of one party dominance system did not
affect adversely the democratic nature of Indian politics because:
1. The key role of Congress in the freedom struggle gave it a head start
over others.
2. The Congress accommodated diversified interests, religion, beliefs
and aspirations to strengthen democracy.
3. Despite being taken place of free and fair elections, Congress won
elections in the same manner again and again.
4. Congress party consisted of various factions inside itself, based on
ideological considerations who never taught together or went out of
Congress.
5. Hence, on the basis of above mentioned criterion, it can be concluded
that Congress strengthened ideals of democracy and held unity and
integrity of the country.

7. Bring out three differences each between Socialist Parties and

the Communist Party and between Bharatiya Jana Sangh and
Swatantra Party.
Answer: 1. Differences between Socialist Parties and Communist
Party:
2. Differences between Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party:

6.

8. What would you consider as the main differences between

Mexico and India under one party domination?
Answer: There was a difference between one party domination in India
and Mexico. In Mexico, this was a one party system only not dominance
because:
1. In India, the Congress party dominated on behalf of popular consensus but Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI) (in Spanish) ruled on behalf of perfect dictatorship.
2. In India, free and fair elections took place, where the losing of election was also fair
but it Mexico, elections were based on malpractices, dominated by PRI.

9. Take a political map of India (with State outlines) and mark:

(a) Two states where Congress was not in poiver at some point
during 1952-67.
(b) Two states where the Congress remained in power through this
period.
Answer. Map is attached and marked as:
(a) 1. Kerala (Travancore-Cochin)
2. Madras (Travancore-Cochin)
(b) 1. Punjab or U.P.
2. Rajasthan or West Bengal.
10. Read the following passage:
“Patel, the organisational man of the Congress, wanted to purge
the Congress of other political groups and sought to make of it a
cohesive and disciplined political party. He … sought to take the
Congress away from its all-embracing character
and turn it into a close-knit party of disciplined cadres. Being a ‘ r
list he looked more for discipline than for took too romantic a view
of “eariging on the movement,” Patel’s idea of transforming the
Congress into strictly political party with a single ideology and
tight discipline showed an equal lack of understanding of the
eclectic role that the Congress, as a government, was to be called
upon to perform in the decades to follow.”—Rnjni Kotl c – 1
(а) Why does the author think that Congress should not have been
a cohesive and disciplined party?
(b) Give some examples of the eclectic
role of the Congress party in the early years.
(c) Why does the author say that Gandhi’s view about Congress
future was romantic?
Answer: (a) Because she wanted to take the Congress away from its all
embracing character and turn it into a close knit party of disciplined
caders.
(b) These examples are in the form of social and ideological coalition of
Congress:
(i) It provided a platform for numerous groups, interests and even
political parties to participate in national movement.
(ii) Congress party represented a rainbow like social coalition
representing diversity of India including various castes, religions and
languages.
(c) Because Gandhiji believed in hand- in-hand characteristic of national movement led
by Congress which attracted various sections groups and society to form a social and
ideological coalition in Congress.

2. Read the passage given below carefully and answer the

questions:
The socialists believed in the ideology of democratic socialism
which distinguished them both from the Congress as well as from
the Communists. They criticised the Congress for favouring
capitalists and landlords and for ignoring the workers and the
peasants. But the socialists faced a dilemma when in 1955 the
Congress declared its goal to be the socialist pattern of society.
Thus it became difficult for the socialists to present themselves as
an effective alternative to the Congress. Some of them, led by
Rammanohar Lohia, increased their distance from and criticism of
the Congress party. Some others like Asoka Mehta advocated a
limited cooperation with the Congress.
Questions
1. Mention the ideology of Socialists.
2. Name some leaders of the Socialist Party.
3. Why did it become difficult for socialists to present themselves
as an effective alternative to the Congress?
Answer:
1. Socialists believed in the ideology of democratic socialism to be
distinguished from Congress as well as from Communists.
2. Ram Manohar Lohia, Ashok Mehta and Acharya Narendra Dev,
Jayaprakash Narayan etc.
3. Because in 1955, Congress declared its goal to be the socialist
pattern of society.

Picture/Map Based Questions [5 Marks]

A. Study the picture given below and answer the questions that
follow:

Questions
1. What does the cartoon represent?
2. What does the term ‘Tug of war’ refer to?
3. Who has been shown on the branches of tree?
Answer:
1. Cartoon represents dominance of Congress which is being tug by
opposition parties to throw Congress out of power.
2. ‘Tug of war’ refer to pulling out the Congress by criticism and
mentioning its weaknesses in an honest and justified manner.
3. Pt. Jawahar Lai Nehru alongwith his colleagues in the cabinet.

Bl. In the outline political map of India given below, five States
have been marked as A, B, C, D and E. With the help of the
information given below, identify them and write their correct
names in your answer book along with the serial number of the
information used and the related alphabet in the map.

Questions
(i) The State to which C. Rajagopalachari, the first Indian Governor-
General of India, belonged.
(ii) The State where the first non-Congress Government was
formed by E.M.S. Namboodiripad.
(iii) The State to which Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, the Union Minister for
Food and Agriculture (1952-54) belonged.
(iv) The State which faced the most acute food crisis in 1965-1967.
(v) The State which led the country to White Revolution through
Dairy Cooperative Movement.
Answer:
A — (iv) Bihar B — (iii) Uttar Pradesh C — (v) Gujarat D — (i) Tamil
Nadu C — (a) Kerala

2. On a political outline map of India locate and label the following

and symbolise them as indicated:

Questions
1. Two states where Congress was not in power at some point
during 1952-67.
2. Two states where the Congress remained in power through this
period.
Answer:
1. (i) Jammu & Kashmir (ii) Kerala
2. (i) Uttar Pradesh (ii) Maharashtra