By Shruti Bhardwaj:
The chapter of a single party rule in India has become a matter of past. The most significant development in Indian political scene, since 1996, has been the emergence of coalition era in Indian politics.
In 1989, the country was amidst instability as Rajeev Gandhi lost power and V.P.Singh took over as the next Prime Minister of the Minority Government. V.P.Singh had to step down as BJP withdrew its support. Chandra Shekhar assumed power and formed government with Congress support from outside. But it was a matter of four months and Congress also withdrew its support and the President announced fresh polls. Congress came back and stayed in power from 1991 to 1996. In 1996 the Congress party was voted out of power and the United front which mustered the support of 14 parties formed a unique coalition government with Congress and once again the party decided to support from outside. Again the coalition failed and 13th Lok Sabha Elections were held and the coalition government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee took the reign of the country. The 14th Lok Sabha Election is also the same form of government under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh, with number of parties supporting either from outside or inside the government and same is the result of 15th General Elections.
After initial hiccups, coalitions are now less brittle than before and this is bringing in greater amount of political divergence in the progress of governance. This is closely linked to political social stability of a country. If a single party fails to fulfill people’s political, social and economic aspiration then the coalition parties emerge to fill the gap. It also in a better way reflects the ideas and policies which emerge after enough consultations and deliberations. Moreover, participation of regional parties at centre proves healthy for decentralization of power and resources which helps to balance development of country. But on the other side, the main and the most difficult part in this type is that it is very difficult to maintain the balance between supporting parties. Often due to lack of either unity or understanding supporting party remove their support which leads to fall of government.
Thus, seeing the present political scenario of the country, it should be clear to all that coalition government has come here to stay in India. Taking it as a positive development, parties after election should learn to come together to provide a government for its full term.