Coalition Govt. and Indian Pol. Sys

PROJECT ON CONCEPT OF COALITION GOVERNMENT AND INDIAN
POLITICAL SYSTEM

POLITICAL SCIENCE Page 1

-:Project Report on:-

Concept of Coalition Government and Indian Political System

Submitted to

Dr. Avinash Samal
(Faculty Member in Political Science)

Submitted by

Nirvikalp Shukla
B. A. LL. B. (Hons.) Student
Semester III, Section C, Roll No. 105

Hidayatullah National Law University
Uparwara Post, Abhanpur, New Raipur 493661 (C.G.)

POLITICAL SYSTEM


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I feel highly elated to get to work on the topic Concept of Coalition Government and Indian
Political System. The practical realization of this project has obligated the assistance of many
persons. I express my deepest regard and gratitude for Mr. Avinash Samal, faculty of Political
Science. His consistent supervision, constant inspiration and invaluable guidance have been an
immense help in understanding and carrying out the nuances of this project report.

I would also like extend my hand of gratitude towards the friends and family, without whose
support and encouragement this project would not have been a reality.
I take this opportunity to thank the university, and the Honorable Vice Chancellor for providing
extensive database resources in the library and through Internet.
For any sort of errors that might have crept in, it is deeply regretted. I shall be grateful if further
comments and suggestions are put forth regarding improvisation of the provisions.

~Nirvikalp Shukla
~Semester- 3
rd
, Year- 2
nd

~Section- B, Roll No.- 105

POLITICAL SYSTEM


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements
1. Introduction 4
1.1 Topic: A Contextual Outline..4
1.2 Objectives of the Study..6
1.3 Scope of the Study.6
1.4 Methodology of Study...6
1.5 Organization of the Study.................................................................................7

2. Indian Political System8
3. Election and Party System in India.9
4. Coalition Government in India...11
5. Coalition Governments: Boon or Bane..13
6. Concluding Observations15
7. References..16

POLITICAL SYSTEM


Introduction:
Topic: Concept of Coalition Government and Indian Political System
At the very outset, I would like to make it clear that this project report basically a study about the
dynamics of coalition government in a political system as complex as that of India. The reason
Indian Political System is being called complex here is because of its ever changing nature and
also, as it is the biggest democracy in the world, having a bulky constitution.
Now, we already know that India is the largest democracy in the world. So, its follows a
democratic political set-up ,which mean, a government of the people; by the people; and for the
people. But, India is a large, large country having the second highest population in the world
1

and 7
th
largest area
2
. So, this pretty much explains how diverse it is. Different cultures have
different beliefs and different people have different opinions and view points regarding
everything, and politics is no exception to it.
So, in a country like India, we have a multi party system. And that is good too, for there is a
better chance of representation of different sections of the societies in such a system.
It does not always happens that a single party gets the majority. So, in such a scenario, the
concept of coalition government comes into play.

Now, let us understand what the word coalition means exactly:
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which
several parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own
can achieve a majority in the parliament. A coalition government might also be created in a time
of national difficulty or crisis, for example during wartime, to give a government the high degree
of perceived political legitimacy it desires whilst also playing a role in diminishing internal

1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population
2
http://www.mapsofworld.com
POLITICAL SYSTEM


political strife. In such times, parties have formed all-party coalitions (national unity
governments, grand coalitions). If a coalition collapses, a confidence vote is held or a motion of
no confidence is taken.
3

So, now that we have known what the concept of coalition government actually is, we need to
understand how such a system functions in the biggest democracy of the world and what are its
pros and cons.

3
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Coalition_government.html
POLITICAL SYSTEM


SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES
Objective of the study:
The basic objective behind this project report Concept of Coalition Government and Indian
Political System is to analyse the concept and functioning of a coalition government with
respect to the largest democracy in the world. Also, to understand the dynamics of the Indian
Political System with the concept of coalition government coming into play.

Scope of the Study:
The scope of the study is very wide as we are dealing with the largest democracy in the world.
This project report basically deals with the concept of the Coalition Government and how the
political system of a democracy as big as that of India has adopted it and what are the pros and
cons of it.

Research Methodology:
The research conducted has been supplemented by secondary sources. It has been complimented
by the use of books and articles. The methodology adopted has tried to incubate objective results,
however, subjectivity has been respected.

POLITICAL SYSTEM


Organisation of the study:
The study/report has been organized into four sections. The first section deals with the
introduction of the problem followed by objectives and methodology adopted for carrying out
the study. The second section deals with the basic knowledge about the Indian Political System
and how it works. The third section deals with Election and Party System in India i.e what is the
election procedure is in India and what kind of party system do we have. The final section deals
with the concluding observations/suggestions

POLITICAL SYSTEM


Indian Political System:
Now, there has been a lot said about Indias Political System and how it is one of the finest
political systems in the world, with a constitution which is an evidence of the finest work of the
brilliant minds who framed the constitution of India.
India - with a population of a billion and a quarter and an electorate of 814 million (2014) - is the
world's largest democracy and, for all its faults and flaws, this democratic system stands in
marked contrast to the democratic failures of Pakistan and Bangladesh which were part of India
until 1947.
Unlike the American political system and the British political system which essentially have
existed in their current form for centuries, the Indian political system is a much more recent
construct dating from India's independence from Britain in 1947.
The current constitution came into force on 26 January 1950 and advocates the trinity of justice,
liberty and equality for all citizens. The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution
of any sovereign country in the world, containing 444 articles, 12 schedules and 98 amendments,
with almost 120,000 words in its English language version.
In stark contrast with the current constitution of Japan which has remained unchanged , the
constitution of India has been one of the most amended national documents in the world with
almost 100 changes. So, that shows that the Indian Constitution is a blend of rigidity and
flexibility. Many of these amendments have resulted from a long-running dispute involving the
Parliament and the Supreme Court over the rights of parliamentary sovereignty as they clash
with those of judicial review of laws and constitutional amendments.
4

India's lower house, the Lok Sabha, is modelled on the British House of Commons, but its
federal system of government borrows from the experience of the United States, Canada and

4
http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Indianpoliticalsystem.html
POLITICAL SYSTEM


Australia.
So, this pretty much explains a lot about the Indian Political System and how it works.
But theres an important thing which hasnt yet been discussed : The Role and Contribution of
Political Parties and what party system do we follow: single-party, two-party or multi-party?

Elections and Party System in India:
Elections:
As we know India is a democracy, elections are a general exercise in India. So lets understand
how it works. India has an asymmetric federal government, with elected officials at the federal,
state and local levels. At the national level, the head of government, prime minister, is elected by
the members of Lok Sabha, lower house of the parliament of India.
5
All members of Lok Sabha
except two, who can be nominated by president of India, are directly elected through general
elections which take place every five years, in normal circumstances, by universal adult
suffrage.
6
Members of Rajya Sabha, upper house of Indian parliament, are elected by elected
members of the legislative assemblies of states and Electoral college for Union Territories of
India.
In year 2009, the elections involved an electorate of 714 million people
7
(larger than both EU
and US elections combined
)
. In year 2014, the Electoral Strength of India increased to 814.5
Million.
8
Declared expenditure has trebled since 1989 to almost $300 million, using more than
one million electronic voting machines.
9

5
Basu, Durga D. (2009). "11". Introduction to the Constitution of India. Nagpur, India: LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa
Nagpur
6
Basu, Durga D. (2009). "11". Introduction to the Constitution of India. Nagpur, India: LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa
Nagpur
7
"The recurring miracle of Indian democracy". New Straits Times. (16 April 2009).
8
"Number of Registered Voters in India reaches 814.5 Mn in 2014". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
9
Indian General Election Expenditure, from ECI website accessed 14 May 2006.
POLITICAL SYSTEM


The size of the huge electorate mandates that elections be conducted in a number of phases (there
were four phases in 2004 General Elections and five phases in2009 general election). It involves
a number of step-by-step processes from announcement of election dates by the Election
Commission of India, which brings into force the 'model code of conduct' for the political
parties, to the announcement of results and submission of the list of successful candidates to the
executive head of the state or the centre. The submission of results marks the end of the election
process, thereby paving way for the formation of the new government.
Electoral Process in India takes at least a month for state assembly elections with the duration
increasing further for the General Elections. Publishing of electoral rolls is a key process that
happens before the elections and is vital for the conduct of elections in India. The Indian
Constitution sets the eligibility of an individual for voting. Any person who is a citizen of India
and above 18 years of age is eligible to enroll as a voter in the electoral rolls. It is the
responsibility of the eligible voters to enroll their names. Normally, voter registrations are
allowed latest one week prior to the last date for nomination of candidates.
So, thats how the elections take place in India.

Party System in India:
India follows a multi-party system i.e there are more than two parties participating the elections.
At present there are more than 30 national and regional political parties.
10
In 1952, the number of
small and national political parties was 52. Since, the formation of political parties in India is
highly personalised it is commented that, there are as many political parties in India as there are
political leaders.
Now, we would not go into much details any further and will hop to our next topic i.e coalition.

10
http://younghopes.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/characteristics-of-indian-party-system/
POLITICAL SYSTEM


Coalition Government:
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which
several parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own
can achieve a majority in the parliament. A coalition government might also be created in a time
of national difficulty or crisis, for example during wartime, to give a government the high degree
of perceived political legitimacy it desires whilst also playing a role in diminishing internal
political strife. In such times, parties have formed all-party coalitions (national unity
governments, grand coalitions). If a coalition collapses, a confidence vote is held or a motion of
no confidence is taken.
11

So, that is a basic definition of a Coalition Government. In Indian Political System, majority is
required to a political party to form a government. But sometimes, none of the parties get success
in getting the majority, so this arrangement of coalition government comes handy on such
occasions.

Coalition in India:
At the national level India's first ever coalition government was formed under the Prime
Ministership of Morarji Desai which existed from 24 March 1977 to 15 July 1979 headed by
the Janata Party. The first successful coalition government in India which completed the whole 5
year term was the BJP Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance with Atal Bihari
Vajpayee as Prime Minister from 1999-2004. Then another coalition, the United Progressive
Alliance, consists of 13 separate parties ruled India for two terms from 2004-2014. Now after the
elections in May 2014, National Democratic Alliance again came into power with Narendra
Modi as Prime Minister.

11
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Coalition_government.html
POLITICAL SYSTEM


India has had coalition governments at the Centre as well as in individual states since the last two
decades. Since India is a diverse country with different ethnic, linguistic and religious
communities, it also has diverse ideologies. Due to this, the benefit that a coalition has is that it
leads to more consensus based politics and reflects the popular opinion of the electorate. The
current UPA-Left arrangement had been formed after parliamentary elections in 2004. Though
they have main adversaries in three states, this government was still a stable one till Left
withdrew support on matters of nuclear deal.

In order to have stable coalitions, it is necessary that political parties moderate their ideologies
and programmes. They should be more open to take others point of view as well. They must
accommodate each others interests and concerns. But this is not what is happening in India. In
India, parties do not always agree on the correct path for governmental policy. Different parties
have different interests and beliefs and it is difficult to sustain a consensus on issues when
disagreements arise. They often fail to see eye to eye with the government on many public
policies. However, this is not to say that we have never had successful coalitions. Governments
in Kerela and West Bengal and NDA at the Centre have been sucessful coalitions. Other
coalitions should learn from these because it is difficult to operate in an environment full of
disagreements.
The fact of the matter is that India has had coalition governments in the past and it will continue
to have in the future as well. Therefore, it is in best interest for all that parties develop a sense of
understanding and do not play games of power politics and bad politics. It is high time that the
MPs realize how bad India fares on other economic variables in the world, and it is time they put
their energy in improving those than just catering to their selfish interests.
If political parties feel that coalitions are too much of a compromise and always lead to unstable
governments, then India can think of alternative forms of government the ; presidential system
can be one but it has its own cons. It is very important for the political parties to moderate their
POLITICAL SYSTEM


ideas as there are no ready made formulas or easy solutions to make coalitions work in a smooth
manner.
12

Coalition Governments: Boon or Bane?
At the very outset, lets just start with a quote given by Napoleon-The Great:
The allies we gain by victory will turn against us upon the bare whisper of defeat
So, this pretty much explains the basic nature of a coalition government. Unstability.
A democracy like ours deserves to be governed by a stable and confident government. But, at
times coalition govt. turns out to be unstable for ex- Mr. Atal Bihari Bajpayees govt. fell down
in 13 months because of 1 vote.
But, thats only one side of the coin. There are some benefits of it, too.
As already told, a coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which
several parties cooperate. Coalition governments are usually formed as no party can individually
achieve a majority in the parliament. However, a coalition government may also be created in a
time of national difficulty or crisis. If a coalition collapses, a confidence vote is held or a motion
of no confidence is taken.
India has had coalition governments at the Centre as well as in individual states since the last two
decades. Since India is a diverse country with different ethnic, linguistic and religious
communities, it also has diverse ideologies. Due to this, the benefit that a coalition has is that it
leads to more consensus based politics and reflects the popular opinion of the electorate. The
current UPA-Left arrangement had been formed after parliamentary elections in 2004. Though
they have main adversaries in three states, this government was still a stable one till Left
withdrew support on matters of nuclear deal.
In order to have stable coalitions, it is necessary that political parties moderate their ideologies
and programmes. They should be more open to take others point of view as well. They must

12
http://theviewspaper.net/coalition-government-in-india/

POLITICAL SYSTEM


accommodate each others interests and concerns. But this is not what is happening in India. In
India, parties do not always agree on the correct path for governmental policy. Different parties
have different interests and beliefs and it is difficult to sustain a consensus on issues when
disagreements arise. They often fail to see eye to eye with the government on many public
policies. However, this is not to say that we have never had successful coalitions. Governments
in Kerela and West Bengal and NDA at the Centre have been sucessful coalitions. Other
coalitions should learn from these because it is difficult to operate in an environment full of
disagreements.
13

Also, The coalition government addresses the regional disparity more than the single party rule.
It is always good for inclusive growth of all the regions, of all the people of a country than the
high growth of only selected people and region.
14

It is more democratic, and hence fairer, because it represents a much broader spectrum of public
opinion than government by one party alone. In almost all coalitions, a majority of citizens voted
for the parties which form the government and so their views and interests are represented in
political decision-making.
But, talking about decision making, it actually takes more time in a coalition government to
actually come to a consensus and actually act after attaining it.
In a nutshell, India is a diverse country with different ethnic, linguistic, and religious
communities, it also has diverse ideologies. In order to have stable coalitions, it is necessary that
political parties moderate their ideologies and programmes. They should be more open to take
others point of view as well.

13
http://theviewspaper.net/coalition-government-in-india/
14
https://gdpitreasure.jux.com/1043585
POLITICAL SYSTEM


Concluding Observations:
After understanding the Indian Political System and the concept of coalition and also its pros
and cons, we may finally come to some conclusion. The fact of the matter is that India has had
coalition governments in the past and it will continue to have in the future as well. Therefore, it
is in best interest for all that parties develop a sense of understanding and do not play games of
power politics and bad politics. It is high time that the MPs realize how bad India fares on other
economic variables in the world, and it is time they put their energy in improving those than just
catering to their selfish interests.
If political parties feel that coalitions are too much of a compromise and always lead to unstable
governments, then India can think of alternative forms of government ; the presidential system
can be one but it has its own cons. It is very important for the political parties to moderate their
ideas as there are no ready made formulas or easy solutions to make coalitions work in a smooth
manner.
And, at the end of the day, the task of the government is to govern the people; to seek for their
development; to make plans and policies that will lead the country towards development. So, be
it any type of government, the needs and wants of the people should not be ignored because its
them who are the real leaders. I wish India gets fortunate enough to get a government which
knows what its duties and obligations towards the cititzens are and also seeks to fulfill them.
Vande Matram.

POLITICAL SYSTEM


References:
www.stanfordencyclopedia.com
www.scribd.com
http://theviewspaper.net
http://younghopes.wordpress.com
http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Indianpoliticalsystem.html

Bibliography:
Basu, Durga D. (2009). "11". Introduction to the Constitution of India. Nagpur, India:
LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur
"The recurring miracle of Indian democracy". New Straits Times. (16 April 2013)

POLITICAL SYSTEM


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