Towards a More Competitive Party System in India

Abstract

THE YEAR 1977 represents a distinct watershed in the evolution of Indian polity. The Parliamentary elections held in March of that year gave a decisive blow to the authoritarian experiment of emergency rule, brought about a major shift in voting trends, and altered drastically the basic structure of the party system. The electoral change of 1977 has affected both the pattern of voters' choice as well as the institutional framework of party politics. It brought about an end of the System and in its place ushered in a rather nebulous two-party system. It should be admitted that the situation is still fuzzy and fluid and the shape of the emerging party system is not yet clear. Both the major parties-the Congress and the Janata-are experiencing stresses and strains that may generate skepticism about their long term viability. This makes conceptualization of the emergent situation a somewhat hazardous task. However, the task of conceptualizing the emerging pattern can no longer be postponed. Understanding the power structure and operational dynamics of the emerging system is too vital and crucial to the twin tasks of political reconstruction and economic recovery to permit a wait for more certain times. A meaningful conceptualization would have to take into account five major themes: (1) the nature and significance of the change of 1977; (2) the emergent party system and its comparison with the earlier model; (3) the viability of the new system; (4) the nature of party