Some of the diverse opposition parties had come into existence before the first general elections in 1952 as non-Congress parties. These parties succeeded to gain only a token of representation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
a. These parties maintained a democratic character of the system.
b. These offered a criticism to the policies based on the principles to keep ruling party under check.
c. They changed the balance of power within the congress.
d. These parties prevented the resentment with the system from turning antidemocratic.
e. These parties groomed the leaders also to play a crucial role in shaping the country. In the early years, there was a lot of respect between the leaders of Congress and opposition parties’, i.e., interim government included even opposition leaders like Dr. Ambedkar, Jayaprakash Narayan, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee into the Cabinet.
