What was the nature of party system and its reason for existence in India during the first three decades after independence?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → One-party dominance under democratic conditions.
Option (1) One-party dominance because the Constitution permitted only a single party to rule. — Incorrect. This is the case of countries like China, Cuba and Syria, where the constitution itself permits only one party. India’s Constitution allowed many parties.
Option (2) One-party dominance due to legal and military measures. — Incorrect. This is how countries like Myanmar, Belarus, Egypt and Eritrea became effectively one-party states, by compromising democracy.
Option (3) One-party dominance under democratic conditions. — Correct. What set the Congress dominance apart is that it happened under democratic conditions: many parties contested free and fair elections, and yet the Congress won election after election.
Option (4) One-party dominance due to lack of multiple political parties contesting elections. — Incorrect. Many parties did contest the elections.
NCERT (2025-26): “Nature of Congress dominance India is not the only country to have experienced the dominance of one party. If we look around the world, we find many other examples of one-party dominance. But there is a crucial difference between these and the Indian experience. In the rest of the cases the dominance of one party was ensured by compromising democracy. In some countries like China, Cuba and Syria the constitution permits only a single party to rule the country. Some others like Myanmar, Belarus, Egypt, and Eritrea are effectively one-party states due to legal and military measures. Until a few years ago, Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan were also effectively one-party dominant states. What distinguished the dominance of the Congress party in India from all these cases was it happened under democratic conditions. Many parties contested elections in conditions of free and fair elections and yet the Congress managed to win election after election.…” |