Question

Era of coalition government further strengthen federalism

Answer 1

No, coalition govt can not strengthen federalism in INDIA. Though India has a federal arrangement, it leans towards a strong center hence known as 'Quashi-federal'. Well, Federalism is a concept applied to a political system characterized by two levels of government deriving powers and functions from an authority which is not controlled by either level of government. While, coalition means the act of coalescing or uniting into one body or alliance. It indicates the combination of a number of bodies or parts into one body or whole. In political sense, it is used to indicate an alliance or temporary union between various political groups for the exercise or control of political power. The rise of coalition in India is leading to an increase in the demand for state autonomy which in turn deviates from the characteristics of Indian federalism with centralising tendencies. With regional parties emergence the demand for state autonomy has increased drastically.

The participation of regional parties has resulted in unstable, weak government at the centre. Every party of the coalition attempts to assert its own geographical, cultural and economic interests in the political process. The regional parties emphasis on the development of their region instead of focussing on the development of the nation as a whole. Hence it can be inferred from the above discussion that the rise of coalition might promote federalism but it is definitely suppressing the Indian form of federalism a. k. a the 'Quashi- federalism'.