THE COALITION POLITICS

India is a land full of diversities. People in different states of the country

have their own ways of life, their languages and political views. Every state
contributes a limited number of representatives to the Lok Sabha. This has
led to a growth of regionalism in the country where every region thinks it
number of regional political parties in different parts of the country. These
regional parties have a special appeal for the peoples of their areas. They
are thus able to send a sizeable chunk of their representatives to the Lok
Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
As a results, no single party in the country is able to win an absolute
majority in the 540-member Lok Sabha. As soon as the elections are over,
different parties with their respective strengths start closed door meetings
to form a group that constitutes a majority. This gives rise to a coalition
government at the Centre.
The days of a single party bagging such a large number of seats as
constitute an absolute majority, are gone. The era of coalition has come to
stay as a reality. In such a situation, the coalition parties. Having divergent
views on various issues, have to agree to a common minimum
programmed acceptable to all the parties in the coalition. They have to
steer clear of the controversial issues and agree to a common minimum
programme in the interest of stability of the government. The country
cannot afford elections every year.
Experience has now shown that a coalition government can run as
smoothly as any single party government. The only requirement is that the
coalition partners have to stick to a code of conduct. Every coalition party
has to own the responsibility for all government policies or actions. No
partner is expected to air the views of a particular group in public. All
differences must be referred to the coordinating group set up to coordinate
and accommodate the views of the coalition partners. No party or person

in a coalition government must also act like the head of a family and
respect the views of all the parties making up the coalition.
A coalition government has its flaws and failings also. Firstly, no single
party can act on its own to implement its own policies and programmes as
declared loudly during the election campaign. The B.J.P. for example, had
to give up its declared stand during the NDA rule (1999-2004) on Uniform
Civil Code, the Ayodhya Temple and Article 370 in Kashmir, to set up a
coalition government. Similarly, the new government of UPA led by the
Congress Party has also given up its stand on various issues and decided
to work on an agreed CMP (Common Minimum Programme). Secondly, a
coalition government is always in the danger of breaking up. The Prime
Minister is more worried about the stability of his government than about
the welfare schemes for the country. Every other day, one or the other
coalition partner is seen to take a tough stance and threaten to walk out.
The successive coalitions at the Centre, the NDA and the UPA have proved
that the working of coalition governments is difficult but it is not an
impossibility. For sheer survival, the partners have to continue to work
together even where there are serious differences.
In spite of all these problems, the coalition governments are doing well in
the country, both at the state as well as the national level. There is,
however, no denying the fact that a single party government is always
better than a coalition government.