Political Parties in India face a lot of challenges. The main challenge they face is the lack of internal democracy. Power in a political party is concentrated among the leaders at the top. So, personal loyalty to the leaders becomes more important than loyalty to party principles.
Dynastic succession is also a major challenge. The top positions of a party are controlled by the members of one family, or people close to the leaders. Few opportunities are given to a lower level worker to rise. This is bad because people without sufficient experience or popular support are able to enjoy positions of power. Parties require money to win elections and this requires a lot of money. Therefore they tend to nominate candidates who can raise a lot of money, regardless of their other attributes. Rich people who donate money to the party can influence the way the party machinery works. Sometimes parties support criminals just because they can win elections.
There is a convergence of ideologies among the major parties. This is also a challenge to political parties. People who want vastly different ideas to come to the forefront have no option open to them.
