Data: How did the words used in the name of a Political Party evolve in the last 70 years?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 21, 2020
There is very much in a name, especially if it is a political party. Names define & bring instant recall value to political parties. But what does the data tell us about the evolution of words used in the name of the political party in India over the last 7 decades? Which words are on the rise and which ones are disappearing?
The phrase ‘What’s in a name’ is used often to highlight the arbitrary nature of a name. But it does not hold true when the names of the political parties are being discussed, especially in India. A political party’s name represents the purpose and the idea of those who are associated with the party and helps to communicate these values to others.
Along with the party symbol, the name of the party is critical in recognition and establishing the connect with the electorate. Hence Political parties lay a lot of emphasis on the name of the party. Recognizing the importance attached to the name and the impact it could have, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has set certain rules for naming convention.
But what are the words preferred by political parties in India? We answer this question by looking at the names of all the political parties that contested the Lok Sabha elections in India from 1951 to 2019.
ECI bars political parties from having caste & religion in the name
Section 29A of Representation of People Act, 1951 requires all the political parties to be registered with ECI. Providing Name of the Political Party is a mandatory requirement. As per the amended guidelines provided by ECI for Party registration, it is categorically specified that the Name of the Party should not have any religious, caste or communal reference.
The rules for naming convention also stress upon, the name being clearly different from the name of any of the existing parties .
This differentiation for the name has been earlier made clear in an earlier order of the ECI dated 25 May 2014.
The ECI’s order further takes cognizance of a practice where in a translated version of the existing names are being used to register a new party. It was recognized that this practice can provide an undue advantage to the new parties and can have an adverse effect on the existing ones. Hence, ECI has decided that any new name of the political party cannot be a translation of the name of any existing recognized National/State political party in any language – English, Hindi or regional languages.
To sum up, the names of the political parties:
The ECI being so specific about the naming convention of a political party highlights the importance of the name and also the extent to which political parties go to gain political advantage through the name.
But what are the names that Indian Political parties feel would have more resonance with public? Do the names over the years point to any shift in ideology? Do the names reflect any trends and preference during a specific period?
We did an analysis on the Names of the Political parties, taking into consideration all the political parties, including the National & State parties which have contested in the Lok Sabha elections from 1951 to the latest i.e. 2019. The data for this analysis is collated from the statistical reports of the Lok Sabha elections available on the ECI website.
‘Bharatiya’ & ‘India’ the most used words in naming political parties
The mostly frequently used words in naming a political party have a national connotation to them.
The national connotation in political party names is more  pronounced in the last three decades
The number of political parties contesting the Lok Sabha elections has significantly increased since the 1990s. Hence there is a general increase in the number of times a word is being used in naming of the party during the past three decades compared to that of the early decades after independence.
There is an overall dichotomy that can be observed in the naming trends. While there is an increase in the number of parties using the words with a national attribute, there is also a corresponding increase in the numbers for words which are more specifically attributed to a specific community, social group or geographical region.
Featured Image: Name of a Political Party