The Communist Party of India was formed in 1925.
The following are the objectives of CPI.
(a) CPI believes in Marxism-Leninism, secularism and democracy.
(b) It opposes the forces of secessionism and communalism.
(c) It wants to promote the interest of the working class, farmers and the poor.

There is lack of democracy within the political parties due to the following reasons.
(i) There is a tendency in political parties towards the concentration of power in one or a few leaders at the top.
(ii) Parties do not hold organisational meetings and do not conduct internal elections regularly.
(iii) Parties do not have the means or the connections needed to influence the decisions.
(iv) Parties do not keep membership register. All these features can be found in India's parties like Indian National Congress, BJP, BSP, SP, etc.

The advantages of multi-party system are
(i) This system allows a variety of interests and opinions to enjoy political representation.
(ii) Under this system, the choice of the voter is not limited to two candidates only. It gives a voter enough scope to make intelligent choice.
In the following ways, alliance is different from coalition

(i) There is lack of internal democracy within parties. There is generally concentration of powers in one or few leaders at the top. Parties do not keep membership registers, do not keep hold organisational meeting, and do not conduct internal elections regularly.
(ii) Dynastic succession does not allow ordinary workers to rise to the top in the party. Where top positions are controlled by the members of one family, it is bad for democracy since people who do not have adequate experience or popular support come to occupy positions of power.
(iii) The growing role of money and muscle power in parties pose another challenge especially during the time of elections. Rich people and companies who give funds to the parties tend to have influence on the policies and decisions of the party.
(iv) Parties, very often, do not offer a meaningful choice to the voters. In recent years, there has been a decline in the ideological differences among parties. Those who want really different policies have no option available to them.

It is believed that in most of the countries in the world, political parties are no longer popular. People have lost their trust in them and become indifferent towards them. According to a recent survey in South Asia, majority says that they do not at all trust the parties. A number of people belong to the "Not much" category. In India, there is growing indifference towards parties. They have failed to reduce poverty, prices and this led to indifference and unpopularity. In the rest of the world, which contains many democracies, political parties are one of the least trusted institutions. But there is another side of the story. Strangely enough, participation and membership of the parties has increased in great numbers. In India, it is higher than many advanced countries like Canada, Japan, Spain and South Korea. Party membership is higher in South Asia than the rest of the world. Though parties may have become unpopular, but at least in India, the participation is becoming lighter every year.

The various roles of the opposition parties in a democracy are listed as follows - 
(a) It acts like a watchdog of democracy. It keeps a check on the role of the Government (Ruling Party) and restircts them from misusing the power.
(b) It provides to the people alternative policies and keeps them aware of the failure of the Government in performing their duties or making wrong policies.
(c) The opposition is always a viable alternative to the ruling government.

(1) A party that secures at least 6% of total votes in an election to the Legislative Assembly of a State and wins atleast two seats is recognized as a State party e.g, Akali Dal of Punjab, Sikkim Democratic Front, Biju Janata Dal, Telugu Desam of AP etc.
(2) A party that secures at least 6% total votes in Lok Sabha or Assembly elections in four States and wins at least 4 seats in the Lok Sabha is recognized as a National party e.g. Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) etc.
(3) The national parties take interest in National as well as State issues whereas Regional /State parties are interested in promoting regional or state interests only.

Political parties can be easily seen as one of the most visible institutions in democracies all over the world. The need of political parties lies in the facts - 
(1) It brings different representatives together so that a responsible government can be formed.
(2) They act as a mechanism to restrict the government from framing any unjust policies or laws.
(3) For most ordinary citizens, democracy means political parties. It happens because political parties fulfill the needs and aspirations of the people. So, political parties are in fact, a necessary condition in modern democracies.

No system is ideal for all countries and in all situations because party system is not something any country can choose. It evolves over a long time, depending on the nature of society, its social and regional divisions, its history of politics and its system of elections. Each country develops a party system that is conditioned by its special circumstances.

(a) A law should be established to regulate the internal affairs of parties, thereby making them more transparent.
(b) Women should be given at least one-third tickets.
(c) The state should fund election campaigns, thereby eliminating lobbying groups and unfair competition.

Political parties perform various functions in a democracy like
(i) They contest elections.
(ii) Parties put forward their policies and programmes for voters to choose from them.
(iii) Political parties play an important role in the law making process.
(iv) Political parties form and run governments.
(v) Political parties, which are unable to secure majority and form the government, play the role of opposition to the party in power.
(vi) They shape public opinion.

Defection is a new concept which advocates the changing of allegiance from the party in which a person got elected to a different party.  It means leaving a political party to join another for some personal gains.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPI-M) believe in Marxism-Leninism.

The term coalition government implies a government which is formed by various parties coming together in the situation in the situation when no single party wins the majority of seats.

The multiparty is a political system where more than two parties exist and contest elections to come to power, for example, India.

The Election Commission of India allots symbols to political parties.

The following are the three elements of a political party.
(a) The leaders: The leaders contest elections and, if they win, perform the administrative jobs.
(b) The active members: The active members attend party meetings and are close to the party leaders.  They can be called the assistants of the leaders.
(c) The followers: The followers are the dedicated workers of the party.  They work under the active members.

A political party is an alliance of people having same ideology.  A political party contests elections and if it comes to power, forms and runs the government.  Every political party has its policy and programmes, which are implemented when it is in power.

Kanshi Ram

Elections held to fill a vacancy caused by the death or any other house.

It is an independent multi-member body which is constituted for the superintendence, direction and conduct of elections.

Affidavit is a signed document submitted to an officer, where a person makes a sworn statement regarding his/her personal information.

In a democratic set-up, political parties are required because without political parties:
(a) every candidate in the elections will be independent.  No promises could be made and the utility of the government formed will remain uncertain.
(b) no one will be responsible for running the country. Elected representatives will only be accountable to their constituency.
(c) there will be no agency to gather and present different views on various issues to the government.
(d) no one will be responsible for bringing various representatives together so as to form a responsible government.
(e) there will be no mechanism to support the government, make policies and justify or oppose them.

(a) A law should be established to regulate the internal affairs of parties, thereby making them more transparent.
(b) Women should be given at least one-third tickets.
(c) The state should fund election campaigns, thereby eliminating lobbying groups and unfair competition.

BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) gets inspiration from India's ancient culture and values. The main features of this party are
(i) Cultural nationalism or Hindutva is an important element in BJP's conception of Indian nationhood and politics.
(ii) It wants full territorial and political integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India.
(iii) It claims a uniform civil code for all people living in the country irrespective of religion.
(iv) It wants to ban on religious conversions. The party wants to get an anti-conversion law to stop religious conversion in the country.

The following are the differences between the national parties and regional parties.

In a democratic set-up, political parties are required because without political parties:
(a) every candidate in the elections will be independent.  No promises could be made and the utility of the government formed will remain uncertain.
(b) no one will be responsible for running the country. Elected representatives will only be accountable to their constituency.
(c) there will be no agency to gather and present different views on various issues to the government.
(d) no one will be responsible for bringing various representatives together so as to form a responsible government.
(e) there will be no mechanism to support the government, make policies and justify or oppose them.

There are three types of party system existed all over the world.
(i) One-party system - There is no choice or competition in this system. The party nominate the candidate and the voters have two choices - Either not to vote or write Yes or No to the candidate. This kind of system existed in communist countries or in authoritarian regimes. Example - China, North Korea and Cuba. Supporters of one-party system claim that this system helps the government in mobilising the talents of all citizens towards a common goal.
(ii) Two-party system - In this case, two parties are dominated in the system. The winner required maximum number of vote. The smaller party usually merge with bigger one or drop out from the competition. Example - Great Britain and Canada. Supporters of this system believe that this system help the Government to go smooth, it also prevents danger of fragmentation.
(iii) Multi-party system - In this system, three or more parties are in the competition to gain control of the Government separately or in coalition. When not any single party gain majority votes then several parties join and form a coalition government. Example - India. Supporters of this system point out that it allows more points of view to be presented in the government.

(1) Lack of Internal Democracy
(a) All over the world there is a tendency of political parties towards concentration of power in one or few leaders at the top.
(b)  Not keeping membership register.
(c)  They do not hold regular organizational meetings.
(d)  They do not conduct internal elections regularly.
(e)  Ordinary members of the party do not have sufficient access or information about the party affairs.
(2) Absence of Transparency
(a) Since most of the parties do not practice transparent procedures for their function, it becomes very difficult for ordinary members to rise to the top in the party.
(b) Leaders in such parties take undue advantage to favour people close to them or even their family members.
(c) In many such parties, the top positions are generally controlled by members of one family. This is bad for democracy since people without adequate experience or electoral support come to occupy positions of power.
(3) Money and Muscle power
(a) Since parties are focused only on winning elections, they resolve to unethical methods to win elections.
(b) Parties tend to nominate those candidates who have or can raise lot of money.
(c) Rich people or organisations who provide funds to the parties tend to influence in policies and decision making of the party.
(4) Meaningful Choices
(a) In order to offer meaningful choice, parties must be significantly different.
(b) In absence of the above, those who really want different policies have no opinion available to them.
(c) Sometimes, people cannot elect actually different people since the same set of candidates keep shifting from one party to another.