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Era of One-party Dominance
Even the opposition parties succeeded in gaining only a token representation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies yet their presence played a significant role in maintaining the democratic character of the system as examined below :
(i) These parties offered a sustained and often principled criticism of the policies and practices of the Congress Party.
(ii) They kept the ruling party under check and often changed the balance of power within the Congress.
(iii) By keeping the democratic political alternative alive, these parties prevented the resentment with the system from turning anti-democratic.
(iv) These parties also groomed the leaders who were to play a crucial role in shaping of our country.
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“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 ‘realist’ he looked more for discipline than for comprehension. While Gandhi took too romantic a view of “carrying 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 he called upon to perform in the decades to follow.” — Rajni Kothari
(a) 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 ?
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