Question

Describe the nature of coalition politics in India?

Answer 1

After independence, the Congress party attained single-party majority in the parliamentary elections in India till about 1977. That year the Janata party won single party majority and formed the government at the centre. In the states, however, regional aspirations gave rise to local parties which have been forming governments off and on.
There have been a few coalition governments formed at the centre and some in the states too. These have happened with pre-poll arrangements among different parties or whenever no single party has been able to win a majority on its own; the latter has led to post-poll arrangements.
Sometimes, the problem about coalition politics in India comes with the sharing of loaves and fishes of office; i.e. cabinet posts are allocated not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of hard and difficult bargain. The other problem is whenever a coalition partner is unhappy about any issue it decides to withdraw support to the Government and may even join an opposite camp to lay a claim to forming a new Government. The motive in both cases is a deep-rooted lust for power rather than one of serving the country and the people.