Common Minimum Programme

Also called: CMP · Topic: Recent Developments in Indian Politics: Coalitions, Mandal and a New Consensus · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

A Common Minimum Programme (CMP) is a written list of policies that all partners in a coalition government agree on and use as the basis for governing. Each party gives up some of its own demands and keeps only what every partner can accept. It matters because India had many coalition governments after 1989. The CMP was the main tool for holding these different parties together and making them workable, as with the United Front in 1996 and the UPA in 2004.

Explanation

Why a CMP is needed

• Coalition government: a government formed by two or more parties together. It happens when no single party has a majority (more than half the seats, i.e. 272 of 543) in the Lok Sabha.
• Coalition partners often have different ideas and different voters, such as national parties, regional parties, and parties that speak for Dalit and OBC groups.
• Without an agreed agenda, every policy decision could lead to a quarrel that might bring the government down.
• The CMP fixes this in advance:
• parties list the policies they all share
• each party drops the demands its partners cannot accept
• the government then works from this shared list

How it works

• Step 1: Negotiation. Partners discuss and agree on a common agenda, usually when the coalition is being formed.
• Step 2: Adoption. The agreed agenda becomes the government's official programme.
• Step 3: Day-to-day management. Coordination committees or steering committees of coalition leaders manage the CMP. They settle disputes between partners.
• Step 4: Giving up ideology. Parties set aside core issues their partners oppose. This is "pragmatism over ideology" (being practical rather than sticking to fixed beliefs).

The three main examples

CMP	Year	Coalition	Lead party
Common Minimum Programme	1996	United Front	Janata Dal
National Agenda for Governance	1998	NDA	BJP
National Common Minimum Programme	2004	UPA	Congress

• United Front CMP (1996): its basic agenda covered national development, equity (fairness), social justice and secularism. It promised to [4]:
• strengthen the federal structure (the sharing of power between the Centre and the states)
• empower SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities
• provide basic minimum services

• remove poverty and ignorance

• NDA's National Agenda for Governance (1998): this was the NDA's version of a CMP. For example, it aimed to provide drinking water to all rural habitations within five years [7].

• UPA's National CMP (2004): a Congress-led coalition used the same method.

Limits

• The CMP is a political agreement, not a law. No court can enforce it.
• It cannot stop a partner from leaving the coalition or withdrawing support.
• It weakens the PM's freedom to act, because allies can block decisions that are not in the agreed list.

In the Constitution and practice

• No constitutional or legal basis: the Constitution does not mention a CMP. It is a political practice (convention) that grew out of coalition politics.
• Constitutional setting it works in:
• The PM is appointed by the President (Art. 75(1)).
• The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha (Art. 75(3)). This means all ministers stand or fall together.
• A confidence vote (trust vote), which tests whether the government still has majority support, needs a simple majority of members present and voting (Art. 100).

• A coalition must keep its partners united to survive such votes. The CMP is the tool used to do this.

• United Front (1996-98):

• A 13-party coalition led by the Janata Dal, supported by the Congress from outside [1]. Outside support means a party votes to keep a government in power but does not join its Council of Ministers.
• The CMP held the partners together. But it could not bind the Congress, which was outside.
• The Congress withdrew support, and H.D. Deve Gowda lost a trust vote 292 to 158 in April 1997 [2].

• The Congress withdrew support again from I.K. Gujral, which led to a mid-term election in 1998.

• NDA (1998-2004):

• The first NDA government fell in April 1999 by just one vote after the AIADMK left [5]. An agreed agenda did not prevent an ally from leaving.
• Most allies did not share the BJP's Hindutva (Hindu-nationalist) ideology. So the BJP set aside the Ayodhya temple, Article 370 (special status for Jammu and Kashmir) and a uniform civil code (one set of personal laws for all religions).

• The second NDA (1999-2004) was a pre-election alliance [6]. It became the first non-Congress government to complete a full five-year term.

• UPA (2004): used a National CMP. This showed that the method was now accepted across the political spectrum.

• Lasting effect: CMPs pushed parties towards the political centre and gave regional parties a say at the Centre. This strengthened federalism in practice.

Don't confuse with

• National Agenda for Governance: this was the NDA's (1998) name for its common agenda. It works like a CMP, but the term "CMP" belongs to the United Front (1996) and the UPA (2004).
• Election manifesto: a single party's own promises, made before the vote. A CMP is a shared, compromise agenda of several partners, usually made when the coalition is formed.
• Coordination committee: this is the body of coalition leaders that manages the CMP and settles disputes. The CMP is the agenda itself.
• Outside support: a party backing a government without joining it, like the Congress backing the United Front. The CMP binds the coalition partners, but it does not bind an outside supporter, which can withdraw at any time.

Prelims Hooks

• Match: CMP → United Front (1996); National Agenda for Governance → NDA (1998); National CMP → UPA (2004).
• Trap: the CMP has no constitutional or statutory basis. It is a political practice, not an article of the Constitution.
• The United Front CMP promised to strengthen the federal structure, empower SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities, and provide basic minimum services [4].
• The NDA's National Agenda for Governance aimed to provide drinking water to all rural habitations within five years [7].
• United Front = a 13-party coalition led by the Janata Dal, backed by the Congress from outside [1]. Its PMs were Deve Gowda, then Gujral [2][3].
• To keep its allies, the NDA set aside the Ayodhya temple, Article 370 and a uniform civil code.

Mains Points

• The CMP as a coalition tool: a written agenda plus coordination committees made coalitions workable (United Front, NDA, UPA). But it also weakened the PM's freedom and collective responsibility (Art. 75(3)), because allies could block decisions. (GS-II: coalition governments.)
• The CMP cannot guarantee stability:
• It binds only the partners, not outside supporters. The Congress brought down both United Front PMs in 1997-98.
• A pre-election alliance with a large anchor party (the NDA in 1999) proved more stable than post-election groupings without one (the United Front in 1996).

• This is a common point when reforms such as a constructive vote of no-confidence are discussed.

• Moderation and federalism: CMPs made parties drop divisive demands (as the NDA did with the temple, Art. 370 and a uniform civil code) and gave regional parties a say in national policy. Critics say this blurs which party is accountable to voters. Supporters say it makes governments more consensual and more representative. (GS-I: post-1947 politics; GS-II.)

Related concepts

• United Front
• National Democratic Alliance

Read more

• Alliance politics: the United Front and the NDA (1996-2004)