Coalition government: logic and consequences

Detail

1. What a coalition government is

• Coalition government: a government formed by two or more parties working together. It usually happens because no single party has a majority (more than half the seats) in the Lok Sabha.
• Minority government: a government whose own party or alliance has less than half the seats. It survives because other parties support it from outside. They vote for it but do not take ministries.
• Hung House (hung Parliament): a Lok Sabha where no party or pre-poll alliance has a majority.
• What changes in a coalition:
• The President has more choice. It is less clear whom to invite to form the government.
• The Prime Minister becomes a negotiator among allies. The PM is no longer an unchallenged leader of one party. The PM must keep partners on board before taking big decisions.

2. Why coalitions came: NCERT's "long-term trend"

NCERT says the coalition era did not come from one event. It grew out of slow, silent changes in the party system.

• The Congress was itself a coalition.
• In the Congress system (the years of one-party dominance after 1947), the Congress held many groups together: castes, classes, regions and ideologies.

• So the coalition principle was at work inside one party before it was at work between parties.

• Groups began leaving the Congress from the late 1960s.

• Splits and exits weakened its "umbrella" role.

• Regional parties grew after 1977.

• Parties rooted in one state became the main rivals of the Congress in those states.

• Dalit and OBC parties rose after 1990.

• OBC (Other Backward Classes) means socially and educationally backward castes other than SCs and STs. Mandal-era politics gave these groups their own parties.

• The result was a split vote, with nobody taking over.

• These parties weakened the Congress, but no single party replaced it across India.

• So parties strong in one state became king-makers at the Centre: their seats decided who would form the government.

• The key NCERT fact: all eleven governments from 1989 to 2014 were coalition or minority governments. Each needed regional parties to survive.

• Party families: NCERT's charts group parties into a Congress "family" (parties that broke away from the Congress) and a Janata "family" (parties that came out of the Janata Party and Janata Dal). Many coalition partners came from these two families.
• NCERT's questions to students:
• Are coalitions the logic of democracy in a society as diverse as India's?
• Do coalitions mean more compromise and less boldness in policy?

3. After 2014: single-party majority, coalition form

• 2014 and 2019: one party (the BJP) won a majority on its own. It still governed with its pre-poll allies in the NDA (National Democratic Alliance).
• 2024 Lok Sabha election (results declared 4 June 2024, all 543 constituencies) [6]:
• The BJP is the largest party with 240 seats. That is below the 272 needed for a majority [5].
• The INC has 99 seats and the SP has 37 [5].

• Candidates from 41 parties were elected in 2024, up from 36 parties in 2019 [5].

• What this means: coalition dependence is back. The government needs NDA allies for its majority, so the logic of this section applies again after 2024.

4. How coalitions work

(a) Alliances

Type	When it forms	Example of logic	Strength
Pre-poll alliance	Before voting; parties share seats and campaign together	Voters endorse the alliance as a package	More legitimate and usually more stable
Post-poll alliance	After results, when no one has a majority	Parties bargain for numbers	Seen as opportunist; less stable

(b) Managing the coalition

• Common Minimum Programme (CMP): a written list of policies that all partners agree to. It covers only the points they share.
• Coordination committee: a body of leaders from the partner parties. It settles disputes and keeps the alliance together.
• Portfolio bargaining: partners trade their seats for ministries and posts.
• "Coalition dharma": the unwritten duty to consult allies, respect the CMP and avoid acting alone.
• The PM's role changes from commander to negotiator. This strains collective responsibility (the rule that the whole council of ministers stands or falls together before the Lok Sabha, Art. 75(3)), because ministers are loyal to different party bosses.

(c) The President's choice in a hung House (Art. 75)

• Art. 75(1): the President appoints the Prime Minister. The Constitution sets no rule on whom to pick when no one has a majority.
• In a hung House, the President's discretion (power to judge and decide) grows. The steps are:
• Step 1: the President invites the largest pre-poll alliance or the single largest party.
• Step 2: the President asks for letters of support from allies or independents.

• Step 3: the new PM must prove majority on the floor of the Lok Sabha within a set time (a vote of confidence).

• Sarkaria Commission (1988) order of preference for a Governor in a hung state Assembly. It is applied by analogy (as a guide, not a binding rule) to the President: 1. An alliance formed before the election. 2. The largest single party that has the support of others, including independents. 3. A post-election coalition in which all partners join the government. 4. A post-election coalition in which some partners join and others support from outside.

• The Sarkaria Commission set out principles to guide a Governor in selecting a Chief Minister. Its aim was a fair choice, not a partisan one [4].

• The Punchhi Commission (2010) later re-examined Centre–state relations, including the Governor's role in such cases. (Pointer: union-executive.)

(d) The 91st Amendment (2003): limits on bargaining

• A cap on ministry size:
• The total number of ministers, including the PM, cannot be more than 15% of the total members of the Lok Sabha [3].
• In a state, ministers including the CM cannot be more than 15% of the Legislative Assembly [3].

• Why: coalitions had grown huge cabinets just to give every ally a post.

• The "split" exception was removed from anti-defection law:

• Anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule): a legislator who leaves their party or votes against its whip can be disqualified.
• Before 2003, a one-third "split" of a legislature party was protected from disqualification. The 91st Amendment deleted this protection [2].

• Only a merger (at least two-thirds of the legislature party agreeing to merge with another party) is still protected.

• Other changes it made:

• A disqualified defector cannot become a minister until re-elected [2].
• A disqualified defector cannot hold any remunerative political post (an office of profit) after defecting [2].

• These ideas go back to the Y.B. Chavan Committee (1967) [2].

• Limits: PRS notes that the anti-defection law has not delivered stability as hoped. Defection now happens through resignations and mass mergers [2]. (Pointer: political-parties.)

5. The consequences debate

Gains

• Representation: regions, castes and social groups (Dalits, OBCs, regional identities) gain a direct voice in national government.
• Federal voice at the Centre: state-based parties sit in the Union cabinet. This strengthens federalism (sharing of power between the Union and the states) in practice.
• Consensus policy-making: policies must satisfy several partners, so they rest on a broader base.
• Check on majoritarian excess: no single party can push through anything it likes. Allies act as a brake.

Costs

• Instability:
• The Lok Sabha went to the polls three times in four years: 1996, 1998 and 1999.

• Governments fell when allies withdrew support.

• Veto points and "policy paralysis":

• Veto point: a partner that can block a decision by threatening to leave.
• 2008: the Left parties withdrew support from the UPA over the India–US civil nuclear deal. The government then faced a confidence vote.
• 2012: the TMC left the UPA over the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail.

• Policy paralysis: big decisions are delayed because one partner objects.

• Particularist demands:

• Allies press for narrow benefits: special packages for their state, key ministries, or protection for their leaders.
• The national interest can lose out to regional bargaining.

6. NCERT exercise anchors

• Q3: the long-term trend and the shape of coalition politics.
• Q4: do parties now realign on ideology, or on power and convenience? Coalitions often join ideologically distant parties.
• Q7: two-party versus multi-party systems. Compare stability against representation.
• Q8: Zoya Hasan on whether the party system can still aggregate interests, that is, gather many group demands into broad national programmes.

Prelims Hooks

• 91st Amendment (2003): council of ministers, including the PM, capped at 15% of Lok Sabha strength. The same 15% cap applies to state Assemblies, including the CM [3].
• 91st Amendment (2003) deleted the one-third "split" exception in the Tenth Schedule. Only a two-thirds merger is still protected [2].
• A legislator disqualified for defection cannot be made a minister until re-elected. This was added by the 91st Amendment [2].
• Art. 75(1): the President appoints the PM. The Constitution has no written rule for a hung House. Sarkaria's guidelines are advisory, not binding.
• Sarkaria Commission (1988) order for a hung Assembly: pre-poll alliance → largest single party with support → post-poll coalition with all partners in government → post-poll coalition with some outside support.
• NCERT: all eleven governments from 1989 to 2014 were coalition or minority governments that needed regional parties.
• Three Lok Sabha elections in quick succession: 1996, 1998, 1999.
• 2008: the Left withdrew from the UPA over the nuclear deal. 2012: the TMC left the UPA over FDI in multi-brand retail.
• 2024 Lok Sabha: BJP 240 (short of 272), INC 99, SP 37; 41 parties elected, up from 36 in 2019 [5].
• Trap: the Y.B. Chavan Committee (1967) proposed limits on ministry size and on defectors becoming ministers. These limits were enacted only in 2003 [2].

Mains Points

• Coalitions as the "logic" of Indian democracy (GS-I/II):
• A diverse society with strong regional and caste identities produces many parties.
• Coalitions turn this diversity into shared power. Their real-world effect is cooperative federalism, not a breakdown of order.

• The return to dependence on allies in 2024 shows the trend is structural, not a passing phase [5].

• Stability versus representation:

• Costs: instability (1996–99), allies' vetoes (2008, 2012) and particularist demands.
• Gains: inclusion and a check on majoritarian excess.

• Balanced view: coalitions slow decisions but make them more legitimate.

• Institutional fixes:

• Already done: the 91st Amendment (2003) curbed jumbo ministries and split-based defections [3][2].
• Still open: written conventions for the President and Governors in a hung House (Sarkaria 1988, Punchhi 2010); binding pre-poll alliance agreements; formal coordination committees.

• A limit to note: PRS shows anti-defection law has not, by itself, ensured stability [2].

• Ideology versus convenience (NCERT Q4, Q8):

• Alliances often form for power, not shared ideas. This weakens the party system's ability to aggregate interests (Zoya Hasan).
• A CMP is the partial answer: it gives an ideologically mixed coalition a minimum shared agenda.