THE NEED FOR COALITION POLITICS IN INDIA

In India the coalition is mainly because of the multi party system as India is world’s
largest democracy. Coalition has become the basic feature of Indian Politics. To control the
abuse of dominant power the coalition of parties is necessary. For the betterment of the
nation the parties have to compromise on their ideologies whenever there is an alliance. No
party alone can make policies of their own there is a collective responsibility and decision.
The coalition of political party is needed for involvement of many parties with their
ideologies so that regional parties with other local parties can come together to form
government.

There are three main reasons political coalitions are formed: In government, to secure
a governing majority; in opposition, to create a credible alternative to government; and during
1
elections, to consolidate electoral support and maximize results.

No Political parties on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament in presence of
multi party system. Under the circumstances a number of like minded political parties form
the coalition to provide workable majority and run the government. Secondly, in a bi- party
system a dead lock may be created due of even balance between two political parties. This
may lead ‘to one of the two parties allying itself with a minor group such as neutrals or
defectors to till the majority in its favour. Thirdly, a coalition may be necessitated by a
national crisis when the various political groups may suspend their political strife and
collaborate in the general cause of protecting and promoting their national interests.2

Coalition Government is more democratic form of government. People do not vote for
the political party but for their ideologies. Coalition provides good governance because their
decisions are made in the interest of the majority of people. It eliminates the dictatorial rule
of a single party.

1
COALITION BEST PRACTICES,NDI West Bank and Gaza, Ivan Doherty .January 2004

2
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.
 There are many advantages of coalition politics because of which we need coalition
politics in India.

1. A coalition government represents the true spirit of democracy as it is a

government for the people, of the people and by the people. It leads to more
responsible and stable form of government.
2. It ensures representation of regional parties as coalition supports representation of
regional political parties.
3. Coalition represents the will of the majority of population and by working as an
effective tool the undemocratic bill can bill can be opposed which are not in the
interest of the people.
4. The new government form from coalition will refrain from committing mistakes
done in the past by concentrating on the solutions for the problems faced by the
nation in the past.
5. When two or more parties come together to form a government, their ideologies,
skill, information, experience exchanges and a government with new ideology is
formed from the best of the parties.
6. Coalition politics also provides for protection of members who are not able to
handle party and take active decisions when there is a threat to the existence of
political party.
7. It provides critical observation or analysis of policies when two or more parties
come together and there will be changes and amendments in the issues which
were dismissed by the single party.
8. Coalition politics leads to continuity in governing a state. To
 THE RISE OF COALITION POLITICS IN INDIA

The concept of coalition politics came in India after the Fourth General Elections in
1967. After the Government of India Act 1935, India adopted the federal form of government
which distributes power between centre and the state where central government is more
strong and dominant with respect to the state government. After the attainment of
independence the Indian National Congress was in the pre dominant position as it was able to
develop a pattern of governance which no other could do. Coalition was not a very new
concept in the Indian politics. India experienced coalition first in 1937 before India got
independence. The Indian provincial election of 1937 were held in 11 presidencies of India.
The INC won the majority in 8 presidencies and the Muslim League failed to form
government. Mohammed Ali Jinnah demanded for coalition of the Indian National Congress
and Muslim League. But this was not considered as the actual beginning of the coalition era.

From the point of view of party position and power equation , the periodization can be
as follow:

Phase 1: 1950-1967

Phase 2: 1967-1977

Phase 3: 1977-1989

Phase 4: 1989-Till Date.

In the first phase the Indian National Congress was in power. Congress was at that time not
only a party governing the state but also had many interest issues and objectives for the state.
In India till 1967 there was single party dominant system as can seen from the following table
The Fourth General Election of 1967 stands as a landmark and a turning point into the history
of Indian democracy. The myth of congress invincibility was shattered. The year1967, have
been described as a 'silent revolution against the congress monopoly of power. The growing
political, social, economic and regional tensions gave rise to the emergence of different
regional parties that wielded varying influence in states, in course of time as uneven. In a
number of states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh and West Bengal. The congress party lost its majority for the first time in these
states. New political pattern was evolved in these states where non-congress majority in state
legislatures, formed the coalition government. It has given the birth of era of coalition politics
in the country. Due to defeat of Neelam Sanjeev Reddy as a congress nominee for the
president of India, as Mrs. Gandhi's group supported opposition candidate Mr. V.V. Giri and
he was elected as president. Main role was played by Mr. Jag Jeevan Ram and Mrs. Gandhi
for the defeat of congress party.3

The single dominant party system of congress ended after this Election as Congress went out
of many states but remained in power at the centre. The regional parties began to come into
power in many parts of India. This give rise to the coalition politics in regional areas.

3
COALITION GOVERNMENT IN INDIA Author(s): S. Waseem Ahmad and Nilofer Source: The Indian
Journal of Political Science, Vol. 70, No. 3 (JULY - SEPT., 2009), pp. 751-759 Published by: Indian Political
Science Association
 The emergence of coalition politics in India made the national - , parties realized the fact
that henceforth, no single party can dominate the national as well as state level politics. Thus
in place of ( 68) ·competitiveness, a new force began to appear which is known as "Dialogue,
Debate and Discussion." In place of majority~minority syndrome, a new sense of equal
Partnership emerged 'which led Rajni Kothari' to remark "issue of federalism is gaining
importance after a long period of ups and downs ........ the reality of growing regionalisation
in politics.4

4
M.G. Khan, Coalition Government and· Federal System in. India, The Indian J ourna.l of I PoliticaLScience,
Vol-64, No.3-4,' July- December, ' 2003, p.186.