Coalition Politics in India: Selected Issues at the Centre and the States

This is an in-depth analysis of coalition politics as it has been played out in India. It is about stable coalitions in the states of India focusing on states that have experience of coalition politics like West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra and Bihar. It highlights the important role of state politics in the coalition era. Based on extensive data gathering and interviews with political players, validity of multi-party coalition governments at the national level over time and dynamics of competition and coalition formation, it takes into consideration issues of communal polarisation, role of ideological justifications and policies in coalition politics and the working of populism and pragmatism. It points out that there is a clear pattern across states to the stability of coalitions at the state level over time that consists of factors such as stable power sharing arrangements in terms of pre-electoral seat-sharing and portfolio-sharing arrangements when in government.