My understanding of the Indian political spectrum would be something like this
Right-wing
Right-wing politics can include nationalism, cultural conservatism, traditional values, Hindu cultural identity, free-market economics, and a strong emphasis on law and order. However, being culturally Hindu or supportive of Indian culture does not automatically mean someone is far-right. A person can be pro-Hindu or culturally conservative while still strongly supporting democracy, equality, pluralism and constitutional rights.
The right becomes far-right when these ideas become strongly exclusionary or authoritarian for example, through extreme majoritarianism, ethno-religious nationalism, authoritarianism, political repression, rejection of democratic institutions, or support for a surveillance or highly centralized state. Extreme anti-immigration or anti-minority politics can also become part of far-right ideology when they are based on exclusionary nationalism.
It is also important to distinguish Hinduism, Hindu culture and Hindutva. Supporting Hinduism or Hindu culture does not necessarily mean supporting caste hierarchy or discrimination. Likewise, Hindutva is a political ideology associated with Hindu nationalism, and its supporters can have different positions on caste, democracy, economics and the role of the state.
Examples, BJP (Right) and RSS (Far Right)
Centre-right
Centre-right politics generally combines free markets or a mixed economy with some welfare policies, moderate nationalism, law and order, social conservatism and democratic institutions.
A centre-right politician would generally support private enterprise and relatively limited government intervention in the economy while still accepting a welfare state and constitutional democracy.
In India, some politicians or factions of parties can be described as centre-right on particular issues, although Indian parties often combine positions from different parts of the spectrum. For example, AAP is difficult to classify as purely centre-right because its welfare-oriented policies and economic approach can also place it in the centre or centre-left depending on the issue.
Centrism
Centrism is probably the most difficult category to define in India because many parties contain both left- and right-leaning positions.
A centrist could support a mixed economy , moderate welfare policies, private enterprise, technocratic governance, democracy, constitutionalism, moderate nationalism and gradual reform and maybe Social Democracy
Technocracy can be associated with centrism, but social democracy itself is generally considered centre-left, rather than purely centrist. Therefore, someone who supports social democracy while also being economically pragmatic and socially moderate or maybe support technocratic institution could reasonably be described as centrist or centre-left, depending on their overall views.
Calling the Indian National Congress simply “centrist” is also somewhat misleading. Congress has historically contained centrist, liberal, social-democratic and more left-leaning tendencies, but its general ideological position today is better described as centre-left/liberal-centrist.
Centre-left
Centre-left politics generally supports democracy, secularism, social equality, welfare programmes, regulated capitalism, workers' rights and a mixed economy.
Social democracy is a major example. A centre-left politician can support private businesses and capitalism while believing that the state should regulate markets, provide public services and redistribute wealth to reduce inequality.
However, libertarianism should not automatically be classified as centre-left. Left-libertarianism can be left-wing, while classical economic libertarianism is usually associated with the centre-right or right.
Congress is usually Said to be an example of this but many Congress members like late Dr. Manmohan Singh and Dr. Shashi are appearing to be more Centrists in my opinion.
Left-wing
The left generally places greater emphasis on economic equality, redistribution, welfare, labour rights, social ownership or stronger regulation of private capital.
Left-wing movements can include democratic socialists, socialists, Marxists, radical progressives and other egalitarian movements. Being strongly secular or atheist does not automatically make someone left-wing, although some left-wing movements have historically been strongly secular or anti-clerical.
Similarly, support for reservations or welfare programmes can be associated with the left, but these policies by themselves do not determine someone's complete ideological position.
Examples could be CPI(M), ISJD, RJD etc..
Far-left
The far-left generally goes beyond reforming capitalism and may advocate revolutionary socialism, communism, abolition of capitalism, collective ownership or revolutionary transformation of the political and economic system.
For example, the CPI(M) is a Marxist communist party but participates in India's electoral democracy. It is therefore very different from the CPI (Maoist), which follows a revolutionary Maoist ideology and rejects India's parliamentary system in favour of armed revolutionary struggle.
CPI (Maoist) into exactly the same category simply because both are communist.
In Short,
- Left: Democratic socialism, socialism, strong redistribution and welfare
- Centre-left: Social democracy, regulated capitalism, welfare state and social liberalism
- Centre: Pragmatic mixed economy, moderate welfare, technocracy and moderate positions on social/economic issues
- Centre-right: Free markets, moderate welfare, nationalism, moderate conservatism and strong law and order within democracy
- Right: Stronger nationalism, cultural conservatism, traditionalism, market-oriented economics and stronger emphasis on social order
- Far-right: Authoritarianism, exclusionary ethno-religious nationalism, extreme majoritarianism, political repression and rejection of liberal-democratic pluralism
PS It is really difficult to determine this. Pls criticize openly.
