9 - Conclusion

Summary

In the preceding chapters we have been examining some of the conditions within which factions develop, conditions which may determine the particular direction and form of factional alignments. The broad political setting in which the groups evolved is characterized by a dominant political party organization which is linked in a relationship of mutual dependence with the Government of Maharashtra. These two organizations are the major structural components of the political system in the State of Maharashtra. They specialize in – but do not monopolize – the adaptive and integrative activities which are crucial to the effective functioning of the political system. To the extent that these political structures are interdependent, factional behavior within or between them may be reflected in both. Insofar as factions are disruptive of a given condition of harmony within or between these political organizations, the existence of such factions may be expected to have repercussions on the stability of the political system of Maharashtra as a whole, or on any of its component parts.

The analysis presented in this study has been guided by several considerations which are interrelated. In providing an explanation of factional alignments which has been closely reasoned and empirically demonstrated, I have attempted to establish that Indian politics – in at least one important state of the nation – are defined in a rational pattern.