Parties, coalitions and pressure groups

Detail

1. NCERT's idea: power shared among parties and groups

• Power-sharing among political parties and pressure groups means no single party or group holds power for ever. Power moves between many players.
• Competition among parties is the first tool. Parties fight elections against each other, so power does not stay in one hand.
• Over the long run, power passes between parties that stand for different ideologies (sets of ideas about how society should run) and different social groups.
• Two ways of sharing:
• Indirect sharing: parties take turns in power after elections.

• Direct sharing: two or more parties form an alliance (an agreement to fight elections together) and then a coalition government (a government run jointly by more than one party, usually because no single party has a majority).

• Interest or pressure groups are organised groups that try to influence government without contesting elections. Traders, businessmen, industrialists, farmers and industrial workers all form such groups.

• They share power in two ways. They sit on government committees, or they influence decisions through demands and protests.

2. Coalitions abroad: the German and Russian examples

• Germany, 2005: a grand coalition (a government made up of the two biggest rival parties) was formed by the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) and the SPD (Social Democratic Party).
• They had been historic rivals.

• Neither party won a clear majority, so they had to govern together. NCERT shows this with a cartoon.

• Later German coalitions: there were grand coalitions again from 2013 to 2021. In 2025 a CDU/CSU–SPD coalition under Chancellor Friedrich Merz took office.

• Russian news item (NCERT): two parties, the Union of Right Forces and Yabloko, planned to merge so they would have more strength against the ruling side. This is another way that parties pool their power.

3. India: from one-party dominance to coalitions

• The Congress system was India's pattern from 1952 to 1967. Congress was the dominant party and won most seats at the Centre and in the states. Competition happened mostly between groups inside Congress.
• Coalition era at the Centre:

Year(s)	Government	Prime Minister(s)	Key feature
1977-79	Janata Party	Morarji Desai, then Charan Singh	Merger of anti-Congress parties after the Emergency; first non-Congress government
1989-90	National Front	V.P. Singh	Minority government, supported from outside by the BJP and the Left
1996-98	United Front	H.D. Deve Gowda, I.K. Gujral	Regional parties at the centre of the coalition; Congress supported from outside
1998-2004	NDA (National Democratic Alliance)	A.B. Vajpayee	BJP-led; first coalition to last a full term (1999-2004)
2004-14	UPA (United Progressive Alliance)	Manmohan Singh	Congress-led; two full terms
2014, 2019	NDA, but the BJP had a single-party majority	Narendra Modi	The BJP alone crossed the majority mark of 272 in a 543-seat Lok Sabha
2024-	NDA	Narendra Modi	The BJP won 240 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, below 272. It depends on allies, mainly the TDP and JD(U)

• Coalition practices:
• Coalition dharma: the unwritten duty of partners to respect each other and consult before major decisions.
• Common Minimum Programme (CMP): a shared policy agenda that all partners agree to. Examples are the United Front CMP (1996) and the UPA CMP (2004).

• Coordination committee: a body of leaders from all partner parties that settles disputes. The UPA's National Advisory Council played a similar policy role.

• Why this matters: coalitions force national parties to accommodate regional and social interests. This is the accommodation model (the Belgian lesson), not the majoritarian model (the Sri Lankan lesson).

4. Anti-defection law: keeping coalitions stable

• Defection means an elected member leaves their party or votes against it, often for an office or other gain. It was common after 1967 ("Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram").
• Legal anchor: the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. It was added by the Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act, 1985 and amended by the Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act, 2003 [3].
• Grounds for disqualification (losing the seat):
• The member voluntarily gives up membership of their party.
• The member votes or abstains against the party whip (the party's official instruction on how to vote) without permission, and the party does not excuse it within 15 days.
• An independent member joins a party after the election.

• A nominated member joins a party more than 6 months after taking their seat [3].

• Who decides: the Speaker (Lok Sabha or Assembly) or the Chairman (Rajya Sabha or Council).

• Split versus merger:
• Before 2003: a split by one-third of a party's legislators was protected from disqualification.
• 91st Amendment (2003): this split exception was deleted [2].

• Merger exception (still valid): no one is disqualified if at least two-thirds of the party's legislators agree to merge with another party [2][3].

• Other changes made by the 91st Amendment (2003):

• The size of the Council of Ministers is capped at 15% of the House strength (Article 75(1A) for the Centre, Article 164(1A) for the states).

• A disqualified defector cannot become a minister (Article 75(1B), Article 164(1B)) or hold a paid political post (Article 361B).

• Key judgments:

• Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992): the Supreme Court upheld the Tenth Schedule. It struck down the bar on courts, so the Speaker's decision is open to judicial review (the power of courts to check whether an action is legal and constitutional) [4].

• Keisham Meghachandra Singh v. Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly (2020): the Supreme Court said disqualification petitions should be decided within three months [5].

• The trade-off: the law makes governments more stable. But it weakens the individual member, because MPs must follow the party whip on almost every vote [5].

5. The opposition also shares power

• Parliamentary committees: the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) checks government spending using reports of the CAG. By convention (since 1967), the PAC is chaired by an opposition member.
• Leader of Opposition (LoP) on selection panels. The LoP in the Lok Sabha helps choose heads of key bodies:
• CBI Director: PM, LoP and the Chief Justice of India (or a judge the CJI names), under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act as amended in 2013.
• Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC): PM, Home Minister and LoP, under the CVC Act, 2003.
• Chief Information Commissioner (CIC): PM, LoP and a Union Minister, under the RTI Act, 2005.
• Lokpal: PM, Speaker, LoP, CJI (or nominee) and an eminent jurist, under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.

• If there is no recognised LoP, the leader of the single largest opposition party takes the seat.

• Federal sharing: opposition parties rule many states. This divides power vertically between the Centre and the states.

6. Pressure groups and movements

• Main pressure groups in India:

Type	Examples	How they influence
Business	FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM	Pre-budget meetings, industry committees, policy papers
Trade unions	BMS (linked to the RSS), CITU (linked to the CPI(M)), INTUC, AITUC	Strikes, the Indian Labour Conference
Farmers	BKU (Bharatiya Kisan Union), Samyukt Kisan Morcha	Protests, sit-ins, negotiations
Civil society	NGOs, RTI and environmental groups	Petitions, public interest litigation (PIL), campaigns

• Case study: the farm laws (2020-21)
• Three laws were passed in September 2020: the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 [6].
• Farmers protested on Delhi's borders for about a year. In January 2021 the Supreme Court stayed (put on hold) the laws [6].
• 19 November 2021: the Prime Minister announced that all three laws would be withdrawn [8].
• 29 November 2021: the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 was introduced and passed by both Houses on the same day [6]. It became the Farm Laws Repeal Act, 2021 (Act No. 40 of 2021) [7].

• Lesson: an organised movement can reverse even a law passed by a government with a majority. This is power-sharing through influence.

• Formal channels for groups:

• Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy (2014): decided by the Committee of Secretaries under the Cabinet Secretary on 10 January 2014. Every ministry must follow it [9].
  • A draft bill must be put in the public domain for 30 days for comments [10].
  • The draft should come with its justification, financial cost and expected impact. The comments received should be published on the ministry's website [10].
  • Weakness: the policy is not binding by law. Most bills skip consultation, and at least 40 published drafts did not get the full 30 days [10].
• Consultative committees of MPs attached to ministries.

• Indian Labour Conference: a tripartite body (government, employers and workers together) that advises on labour policy.

• Risks:

• Lobbying by the powerful: rich business groups have better access than the poor.
• Policy capture: policy starts to serve a few, not the public. This is the oligarchy concern (rule by a small, powerful group).
• Veto by street power: loud groups can block reforms that may help silent majorities.

7. NCERT's class-monitor question

• The question: "The class monitor changes every month. Is this power-sharing?"
• Answer: it is rotation, not power-sharing in the full sense.
• Rotation shares opportunity over time. Each student gets a turn.

• But in any one month, one person holds all the power. Power is not shared at the same time.

• True power-sharing needs many centres of power working at the same time: legislature, executive and judiciary; Centre and states; coalition partners; government and opposition.

• Link to parties: alternation of parties in power is similar to rotation. Coalitions are closer to real simultaneous sharing.

Prelims Hooks

• Tenth Schedule was added by the 52nd Amendment, 1985. The 91st Amendment, 2003 deleted the one-third "split" exception [2][3].
• The merger exception under the Tenth Schedule needs two-thirds of a party's legislators [2].
• Kihoto Hollohan (1992) upheld the anti-defection law but made the Speaker's decision open to judicial review [4].
• Keisham Meghachandra Singh (2020): disqualification petitions should be decided within three months [5].
• The 91st Amendment also capped the Council of Ministers at 15% of the House (Articles 75(1A) and 164(1A)).
• The Farm Laws Repeal Act, 2021 (Act No. 40 of 2021) repealed three laws. It passed both Houses on 29 November 2021 [6][7].
• Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy (2014): draft bills go public for 30 days. The policy is not statutory [9][10].
• First non-Congress government: Janata Party, 1977. First coalition to complete a full term: the NDA under Vajpayee (1999-2004).
• Trap: NCERT's example of a grand coalition is Germany's CDU–SPD (2005), not Belgium. Belgium's example is about community government and federal power-sharing.
• Trap: a class monitor who changes every month shows rotation, not simultaneous power-sharing.

Mains Points

• Coalitions as accommodation: from 1989 to 2014, coalitions gave regional and social groups a voice at the Centre through CMPs and coordination committees. That is the Belgian logic applied to India. Critics answer with "policy paralysis" and partners' veto power. The 2024 NDA, which depends on the TDP and JD(U), revives this debate.
• Anti-defection law reform: the law brought stability but weakened MPs and made the Speaker a partisan judge. Delays in deciding cases have also been a problem. Reform ideas [4][5]:
• limit the whip to confidence votes and money bills;
• move decisions from the Speaker to the President or Governor on the advice of the Election Commission;

• set a fixed time limit, as in the 2020 ruling.

• Pressure groups as a double-edged sword: the farm-law repeal of 2021 shows democratic power-sharing beyond elections [6][8]. But it also shows the cost of skipping consultation. A statutory pre-legislative consultation process (one with legal force) [10] and a lobbying-disclosure law could give groups an equal and open voice and reduce capture by powerful groups.

• The opposition as a power-sharer: chairing the PAC and sitting on selection panels (CBI, CVC, CIC, Lokpal) gives the minority a say in key appointments. When no LoP is recognised, these checks weaken. Reform: give legal recognition to the leader of the largest opposition party.