GROWTH OF COALITION POLITICS IN INDIA.
By K P PASWAN.
Coalition politics, not only in India but through out the world is becoming foundation stone of an open democracy. In India, coalition politics began to emerge,when Indira Gandhi was the PM of the country. Diversity in religion may be one of the factors, but not the only factor for coalition politics. There was no talk of coalition politics when the legendary Jawahar Lal Nehru, was chosen and elected to become the first PM of free India.
During the period of Jawaharlal Nehru, Congress Party of India was able to win general elections in every state of India, except in Kerala, but in other states Congress party maintained absolute or working majority in state legislature and formed the government as per wishes of senior leaders of the party.
With spread of education and introduction of democratic ideas in social life, illiterate and educated persons were sailing in the same boat. There was also marked improvement of economic life of the people. The concept of mixed economy as espoused by the first PM of India failed to boost manufacturing activities, but spread of scientific temperament gave rise to a different type of political ideology, which run contrary to political philosophy prevailing in the west, like Communism and capitalism. For example, Communist party in Kerala and West Bengal had to work with political parties, who were against Communist philosophy, but did not threaten the national unity of the country.
DIVERSITY. India is a large country with population exceeding 130 billion, geographically it is larger than EU. In other words India is an over populated country. Hinduism is the religion of the majority, but this religion is being practiced by different castes different customs,language and surprisingly this dangerous polarization has failed to erase, Hinduism from the face of the earth. This division in society has contributed to the growth of coalition politics in the country. As every caste wants its share in welfare schemes, and politicians cannot ignore it, as reservation in jobs cannot provide employment to persons belonging to lesser known castes.
LANGUAGE. States were reorganized on the basis of language, spoken by the majority of the people and not on the basis of caste and religion, except in North West, where we find religion was considered, while constituting new states, but these small states cannot influence religion of people belonging to bigger states. Language and cast play important role in bigger states.
DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP India was fortunate to have dynamic leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who were against politics of caste and creeds. But absolute power makes a politician rigid in their attitude. People of India loved Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, their love was emotional. There was nothing wrong with emergency of 1975. The country was saved from social, political and economic anarchy. Disgruntled and power-hungry politician joined together to remove Indira Gandhi, and they were successful, it was not a coalition politics, but cooperation among ambitious and corrupt politicians, who were swayed by caste and regional aspirations. So, after Indira Gandhi, coalition politics emerged, both at national and at state level.
Rajeev Gandhi was also a dynamic and charismatic leader. but he was surrounded by politicians with personal agenda in mind. He was misguided by politicians, so much so that he lost the image of a charismatic leader and Mr Clean. His assassination paved the way for coalition politics at national level.
REASONS. There are multiple factors for emergence of coalition politics in India. In Tamilnadu, coalition politics, based on undefined ideology, has become essential feature of caste based politics in this state. There are two main political parties, dominated by film actors, these are AIDMK and DMK. One political party is opposed to the dominance of Brahmins, while other political party had a Brahmin CM for a long time. Despite of this opposite views, we find stable government working in Tamilnadu.
Most of the political parties in India is dominated by particular family belonging to particular sect or castes.
Selection of candidates to fight the election for the state legislature and parliament is based on castes and certainly not on merit. Merit based candidates cannot win an election unless he is supported by other castes, for which coalition politics is necessary. In Bihar and UP, two major political parties are controlled by families belonging to particular castes, famous for committing atrocities against the Dalits. Their leaders swear to introduce caste less society, but openly favor caste men in transfer and posting of officers. While in WestBengal, caste system has very limited role in politics
REGIONALISM. As stated earlier that Hinduism did not disappear from India, but different languages are spoken by people of different states. For a long time two main political parties in South India survived because of anti-Hindi feeling. There were violent agitations against imposition of Hindi. Surprisingly best Hindi movies were produced in Tamilnadu, but with passage of time and gradual industrialization of India, anti-Hindi feeling has subsided. Technocrats and doctors from south are bound to work in Hindi belt and vice versa. Every state cannot progress itself unless it is supported by other states.
Jharkhand and Odessa are rich in natural resources, these natural resources like coal, is needed in other states to generate power. Oil and natural gas are found in Gujarat and Assam. These are equally distributed throughout the country. In return the mineral rich states receive generous royalty from the central government. Punjab and UP have been witnessing green revolution, by which India attained self-sufficiency in food grains. There are other reasons for assertive regionalism. In West-Bengal and North East, we find illegal entry of foreign nationals, who are source of all troubles including communal riots, but they are also source of vote bank for certain political parties. Linguistic minority is being threatened by these immigrants, who are generally supported by politicians of those particular states. Coalition politics is likely to put brake on these activities.
PUNJAB AND J&K. Politics in these two states is interesting. In Punjab there is virtually two political party system. In Punjab it is Congress versus BJP, with support of Akalidal. Once there was a demand for separate state for Sikhs, which appears to be fizzled out. There is great similarity between Sikhism and Hinduism. People are economically well off and upper castes in Punjab believing in oppressing the Dalits. For the first time a Dalit Sikh has been made the Chief Minister of Punjab for mustering support of Dalits. Punjab is famous for small scale industries and notorious for drug addicts. Every political party swears to eradicate the problems associated with drug addiction, but problems still persist. Rise and growth of coalition politics in Punjab is a healthy sign for keeping the unity of the country intact as large number of Sikhs are in the army and a few of them has reached the rank of general.
Recently Aam Admi Party, which has an elected government in New Delhi has increased its influence and in future, we may see emerging of a different kind of coalition politics in Punjab.
In J&K either the govt will be a coalition Govt or the election will be rigged. With exodus of Kashmir Hindus, J&K has become only Muslim majority state in India. The power hungry and corrupt politicians of J&K were treating the state as their personal fiefdom. For coalition politics, the leaders belonging to Muslims have to participate in election. With abrogation of article 370 of the constitution of India, the prospect of coalition politics has increased. Cross boarder terrorism may see putting obstacles in the path of political stability in the state, but the nature of coalition politics is likely to prevail in the valley and in the course of time, we may see a less violent J&K, heading towards coalition politics
COW BELT. Coalition politics in Cow belt (Hindi Speaking States) means coalition of different castes with a view to capture power. They swear in the name of secularism, socialism and social justices, but they are doing politics in opposite direction. They are mostly casteist leader believing in the welfare of their caste men. In modern India coalition politics in cow belt is gaining strength as the grand old party National Congress is losing momentum. In Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, due to internal squabbles, people are likely to shift their attention to new alternatives.
NORTH –WEST CONUNDRUM. The situation in former North East Frontier Area like Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram Tripura and Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh is fluid, so nature of coalition politics is likely to differ from the rest of the country. These small states are strategically important, but there are no manufacturing activities on large scale. These states are dependent upon center for economic assistance. Christianity happened to be the religion of majority of the people, and they are enjoying complete religious freedom. In these small states, local issues will dominate the politics, and elected politician will contribute to the growth of coalition politics. Coalition government at the center will have to give special attention to these strategically important states
SECULARISM. The word was inserted in the preamble
of the constitution by Indira Gandhi, for reasons known only to her. Spirit of
Indian constitution is religious tolerance. India was divided on the basis of
religion. After partition, large number of Muslims remained in India. Exodus of
Muslims from India to other countries were not seen, while Hindus were forced to
leave newly created nation. Hangover of participation will continue to haunt the people of India till dooms day.
Along with Secularism, the word Socialism were also inserted in the preamble. Socialism is a political and economic ideology and is not mentioned in the constitution of other countries. Who are secularists in India? This is the question which is going to shape the coalition politics in India. The ruling party is accused of being pro Hindus, but the fact is that pro Hindus becomes anti Hindus and vice versa by ways of defection. In West Bengal a good number of politicians who were in the ruling party at the center, defected to Anti Hindu Political party which is in power in the state. It is also not proper to accuse any political party either pro Hindu or anti Hindus.Every politician is conscious of his caste, which is an essential character of Hinduism.
Caste oriented politics is likely to weaken the spirit of tolerance. We do not know whether Secularism in India means freedom of religion (US) or freedom from religion (France). Presidents of both these countries swear in the name of God with a copy of Bible in his hands. Secularism in India may be influenced by success or failure of religious radicalisation in Europe and the US.
In 1979 when Janata Govt was formed than Jan Sangh, also participated in the coalition government. Jan sangha changed its name to Bharat Janata Party and at present is ruling the country with absolute majority. But we find difference between coalition politics and a coalition government. The current ruling party at the canter has redefined the coalition politics in such way, that it has attracted, politicians belonging to every opposition party and has encouraged defection in the name of national unity.Surprisingly, these defections are contributing to the philosophy of coalition politics in India
FINAL THOUGHT India is a different kind of polarized society. In western countries, polarization is based upon political thinking, but here caste system is playing important role in polarization of politics. Barring exceptions. like Britain, coalition politics in other democratic countries is succeeding beyond expectation. In coalition politics in India, every caste may become vote bank for some parties and that is not a wake-up call, as these insignificant castes cannot endanger the sovereignty of India. The smaller castes, by participating in coalition politics, will strengthen political institutions.
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