CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Nyayanagar, Mithapur, Patna

Political Science
Science-II

“Coalition Politics in India: A critical Analysis”

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

ABHIMANYU Dr. S. P. Singh

ROLL NO – 1905 Faculty of Political Science

B.A. LLB, 2nd SEMESTER

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researcher takes this opportunity to express his profound gratitude and deep regards to
his guide Dr. S. P. Singh for his exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant
encouragement throughout the course of this thesis. The blessing, help and guidance given by
him time to time shall carry the researcher a long way in the journey of life on which the
researcher is about to embark.

The researcher is obliged to staff members of Chanakya National Law University, for the
valuable information provided by them in their respective fields. The researcher is grateful
for their cooperation during the period of her assignment.

Lastly, the researcher would like to thank almighty, her parents, brother, sisters and friends
for their constant encouragement without which this assignment would not be possible.

THANK YOU,
Abhimanyu

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 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work reported in the B.A.LL.B (Hons.) Project Report
entitled “Coliation Politics in India: A critical Analysis” submitted at
Chanakya National Law University, Patna is an authentic record of my work
carried under the supervision of Dr. S. P. Singh. I have not submitted this work
elsewhere for any other degree or diploma. I am fully responsible for the
contents of my project report.

Abhimanyu
Chanakya National Law University, Patna

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 TABLE OF CONTENT
AC KN O W L ED G EM EN T ................................................................................................................................II

DEC L AR AT I ON .............................................................................................................................................III

TABLE OF CONTENT ....................................................................................................................................... IV

CHAPTER-I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1

RESEARCH QUESTIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 4

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................................................... 4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................ 4
TENTATIVE CHAPTERISATION ............................................................................................................................. 4

CHAPTER-II: MEANING OF COALITION ............................................................................................................. 5

CHAPTER-III: COALITION IN INDIA .................................................................................................................... 7

CHAPTER-IV: GROWTH OF COALITION POLITICS IN INDIA ................................................................................ 9

CHAPTER-V: NATURE OF INDIAN FEDERALISM ............................................................................................... 10

CHAPTER-VI: IMPACT OF COALITION POLITICS ............................................................................................... 11

CHAPTER-VII: CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 14

BIBILIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................................................. 15

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 CHAPTER-I: INTRODUCTION

India is the largest democratic country in the world. Indian political system is a
multiparty system. There are so many national and regional parties. They participate in
general election. Political parties are indispensable to any democratic system. They play the
most important role in the Electoral process in setting up candidates and conducting election
campaigns. The parliamentary democracy consists of an elected representative parliament
which is supreme, a cabinet collectively responsible to parliament, a prime minister who is
supreme within the cabinet and an organized opposition within the parliament. It was
assumed that the majority would form the government and the minority would function as the
opposition. Problems arose when no party could secure enough majority to form a single
party government and in such circumstances the alternative was the coalition or multiparty
government.
Coalition Politics is an essential feature of a multiparty government where several
political parties join hands to run the government. It is a fact that today Coalition Politics has
become a reality of the Indian Political System. Though the Indian Constitution has declared
India as ‘a union of states’, instead of using the term ‘federation’ and the supremacy of the
central government is noticed in different spheres of the Indian Federal System, in spite of
that, the issue of liberty and autonomy of the states is also very important within the federal
structure of India. From this viewpoint it can’t be denied that, a coalition system of
government is more participatory in nature and it is also more responsive to regional
concerns. In the sphere of centre-state relations within the federal structure of India, coalition
politics can produce a cooperative-competitive approach which may increase the socio-
economic and political growth and development of the nation. On the other hand, the main
drawback of coalition government is its instability.
In many cases, narrow personal interests hamper great national and regional interests
in most of coalitions. Coalition politics may also bring about tension in the centre-state
relations. Because on a few occasions, central directions are ignored by the coalition
ministries in some of the states. This paper attempts to evaluate the impact of coalition
politics or coalition government on Indian Federalism and to examine whether the coalition
politics has strengthened the Indian federal system or it has weakened the Indian federal
structure. In fact, the two main pillars on which the success of a coalition depends are
cooperative attitude and collective responsibility and certainly a particular type of coalition

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government, which is based on these two pillars, may play an important role in strengthening
the Indian Federal System.

The term coalition has been derived from the Latin word “Coalition” meaning to go
or to grow together. Thus interpreted the term coalition means an act of Coalescing or uniting
into one body or alliance. It is the combination of a number of bodies or parts into one body
or whole. In the political sense the term coalition is use for an alliance or temporary union
between various political groups for the exercise or control of political power. A coalition has
been defined as the joint use of resources to determine the outcome of a mixed motive
situation involving more than two units.

Gam-son further defined "There is an element of conflicts since there exists for at
least two of the players (or actors) the possibility that they can do better by coordinating their
resources than by acting alone.

Coalition Politics is an essential feature of a multiparty government where several political

parties join hands to run the government. In the Encyclopaedia of Social Science, F. A. Ogg
defines coalition in political sense as “a cooperative arrangement under which distinct
political parties or at all events members of such parties unite to form a government or a
ministry.”

There can be two types of coalition governments --- pre-poll and post-poll. In a pre-poll
coalition, several parties or groups contest elections on the basis of an agreed policies and
programmes. If such a coalition group secures a majority of seats, it forms a government
consisting of representatives from the parties joining the coalition. A post-poll coalition is
formed when no party is in a position to obtain absolute majority to run the government. In
such a case, a coalition group or an alliance is formed to constitute a government.1

Again, Coalition Politics can be tactical. In case of tactical coalition, there may be one party
in power but certain other parties support the ruling party from outside.

1 Bhattacharyya, D.C. (2014). Indian Government and Politics. Vijoya Publishing House, pp 478-487.

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For example: In 1979, when caretaker government of Charan Singh was functioning,
Congress (I) gave support remaining outside the government. Therefore, compromise or
agreement is always the bedrock on which a coalition politics is built.

One of the main advantages of a coalition government is that, it leads to broader

representation, as the two parties have to compromise on their opposing ideologies in order to
create policies that result in legislation.

Greater policy scrutiny is also an important feature of coalition governments which could
prove beneficial for the electorate as this should benefit a larger proportion of individuals
than a single party government, as the two opposing parties reflect a broader spectrum of
voters. In a coalition government, one party restrains other party from taking or passing
controversial or undemocratic policies or laws.

On the other hand, a main disadvantage of coalition government is conflict within

governance due to conflicting ideologies of the two parties, can make a government fractious.
Therefore, compared to one party majority government, a coalition government is weak and
unstable. In fact, coalition Politics is not a static but a dynamic affair as coalition partners
may decide to disunite and form a new coalition, it implies a temporary conjunction of
particular interests to enjoy some material reward or psychological advantage by seizing
political power.

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 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

How Coalition government emerged in Indian Polity?

Stability of Coalition Government?

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

RESEARCHER INTENDS TO-To critically analyze all the key related to Coalition Government in
India.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

For the project research, researcher will rely upon the doctrinal methods of Research

TENTATIVE CHAPTERISATION

INTRODUCTION
MEANING OF COALITION
COALITION IN INDIA
GROWTH OF COALITION POLITICS IN INDIA
NATURE OF INDIAN FEDERALISM
IMPACT OF COALITION POLITICS
CONCLUSION

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 CHAPTER-II: MEANING OF COALITION

As we know India is a democracy, elections are a general exercise in India. So lets

understand how it works. India has an asymmetric federal government, with elected officials
at the federal, state and local levels. At the national level, the head of government, prime
minister, is elected by the members of Lok Sabha, lower house of the parliament of India.2
All members of Lok Sabha except two, who can be nominated by president of India, are
directly elected through general elections which take place every five years, in normal
circumstances, by universal adult suffrage.3 Members of Rajya Sabha, upper house of Indian
parliament, are elected by elected members of the legislative assemblies of states and
Electoral college for Union Territories of India.

The size of the huge electorate mandates that elections be conducted in a number of phases
(there were four phases in 2004 General Elections and five phases in2009 general election). It
involves a number of step-by-step processes from announcement of election dates by
the Election Commission of India, which brings into force the 'model code of conduct' for the
political parties, to the announcement of results and submission of the list of successful
candidates to the executive head of the state or the centre. The submission of results marks
the end of the election process, thereby paving way for the formation of the new government.

Electoral Process in India takes at least a month for state assembly elections with the duration
increasing further for the General Elections. Publishing of electoral rolls is a key process that
happens before the elections and is vital for the conduct of elections in India. The Indian
Constitution sets the eligibility of an individual for voting. Any person who is a citizen of
India and above 18 years of age is eligible to enroll as a voter in the electoral rolls. It is the
responsibility of the eligible voters to enroll their names. Normally, voter registrations are
allowed latest one week prior to the last date for nomination of candidates.

So, that’s how the elections take place in India.

India follows a multi-party system i.e there are more than two parties participating the
elections. At present there are more than 30 national and regional political parties.4 In 1952,
the number of small and national political parties was 52. Since, the formation of political

2
Basu, Durga D. (2009). "11". Introduction to the Constitution of India. Nagpur, India: LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa
Nagpur
3
Ibid
4 http://younghopes.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/characteristics-of-indian-party-system/

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parties in India is highly personalised it is commented that, there are as many political parties
in India as there are political leaders.

A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which

several parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its
own can achieve a majority in the parliament. A coalition government might also be created
in a time of national difficulty or crisis, for example during wartime, to give a government the
high degree of perceived political legitimacy it desires whilst also playing a role in
diminishing internal political strife. In such times, parties have formed all-party
coalitions (national unity governments, grand coalitions). If a coalition collapses,
a confidence vote is held or a motion of no confidence is taken.5

So, that is a basic definition of a Coalition Government. In Indian Political System, majority
is required to a political party to form a government. But sometimes, none of the parties get
success in getting the majority, so this arrangement of coalition government comes handy on
such occasions.

5
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Coalition_government.html

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 CHAPTER-III: COALITION IN INDIA

The history of coalition politics in India can be traced to pre-independence period when in
1946 an Interim government with 14 representatives from Congress, Muslim League, Akali
Dal etc. was formed. After independence, from 1952 to 1967 there was Congress party
dominance and hence there was little possibility of emergence of coalition. After 1967
several regional political parties started playing prominent role in Indian politics and by 1969
the difficulty of forming a stable and majority party government was felt. Though at the
national level, the first coalition government was formed in 1977, at the regional level
coalition politics was experienced in West Bengal, Bihar and Punjab from 1967 onwards. In
the recent time, at the central level, coalition government has been formed by NDA-I (1999-
2004), UPA Phase-I (2004-2009), UPA Phase-II (2009-2014), and NDA-II (2014 onwards).

At the national level India's first ever coalition government was formed under the Prime
Ministership of Morarji Desai which existed from 24 March 1977 to 15 July 1979 headed by
the Janata Party. The first successful coalition government in India which completed the
whole 5 year term was the BJP Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic
Alliance with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister from 1999-2004. Then another
coalition, the United Progressive Alliance, consists of 13 separate parties ruled India for two
terms from 2004-2014. Now after the elections in May 2014, National Democratic Alliance
again came into power with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.

India has had coalition governments at the Centre as well as in individual states since the last
two decades. Since India is a diverse country with different ethnic, linguistic and religious
communities, it also has diverse ideologies. Due to this, the benefit that a coalition has is that
it leads to more consensus based politics and reflects the popular opinion of the electorate.
The current UPA-Left arrangement had been formed after parliamentary elections in 2004.
Though they have main adversaries in three states, this government was still a stable one till
Left withdrew support on matters of nuclear deal.

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In order to have stable coalitions, it is necessary that political parties moderate their
ideologies and programmes. They should be more open to take others’ point of view as well.
They must accommodate each other’s interests and concerns. But this is not what is
happening in India. In India, parties do not always agree on the correct path for governmental
policy. Different parties have different interests and beliefs and it is difficult to sustain a
consensus on issues when disagreements arise. They often fail to see eye to eye with the
government on many public policies. However, this is not to say that we have never had
successful coalitions. Governments in Kerela and West Bengal and NDA at the Centre have
been sucessful coalitions. Other coalitions should learn from these because it is difficult to
operate in an environment full of disagreements.

The fact of the matter is that India has had coalition governments in the past and it will
continue to have in the future as well. Therefore, it is in best interest for all that parties
develop a sense of understanding and do not play games of power politics and bad politics. It
is high time that the MPs realize how bad India fares on other economic variables in the
world, and it is time they put their energy in improving those than just catering to their selfish
interests.

If political parties feel that coalitions are too much of a compromise and always lead to
unstable governments, then India can think of alternative forms of government the ;
presidential system can be one but it has its own cons. It is very important for the political
parties to moderate their ideas as there are no ready made formulas or easy solutions to make
coalitions work in a smooth manner.6

6 http://theviewspaper.net/coalition-government-in-india/

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 CHAPTER-IV: GROWTH OF COALITION POLITICS IN INDIA 7

Following factors are responsible for the growth of Coalition Politics in India:

1. The roots of Coalition Politics may be found in the nature of Indian Politics. India had a
long experience of one dominant party rule. While a single majority party rule provided
political stability yet such a rule failed to satisfy the diverse demands and expectations of a
vast heterogeneous population of India.This produced dissatisfaction among voters and as a
result they started searching for alternative satisfactory arrangement. This helped to
germinate the seeds of coalitions.

2. It’s a fact that when one party rules for a considerable period and if the party is not
ideologically strong, there develops rivalries. Dissatisfied members of the party leave the
parent body and form splinter groups. As the basic objectives of such splinter groups may not
be different from those of the parent body, the voters get confused and as a result no single
party remains in a position to secure majority.

3. Initially, the basic purpose behind forming coalition of opposition groups was to drive the
Congress Party away from power by any means. Because, the non-Congress political parties
realized the fact that, in most states the combined strength of the major non-Congress parties
can defeat Congress in 70–80 % of the electorates in which Congress has the support of only
a relative majority of the voters and the united front tactic is the only one likely to be
successful against Congress, for no major non-Congress party has ever been able to win a
majority in any State Legislature on its own strength.

4. Dynamism of Indian society with its hierarchical class and caste structure, rural-urban
dichotomy, uneven developmental performance and social cleavages like language and
religion create differences of outlook regarding the ability of a particular political party.
Naturally, many political parties compete for attracting voters and this may result in divisions
of votes making a single majority party difficult to emerge.

5. Besides, the Indian Political System suffers from a crisis of leadership. It’s a fact that after
independence the quality of leaders declined tremendously though the quantity increased
substantially and this factor has played a major role in the development of coalition
government in India.

7 http://theviewspaper.net/coalition-government-in-india/

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 CHAPTER-V: NATURE OF INDIAN FEDERALISM 8

Although, the Constitution of India has nowhere used the term “federal” but “Union of
States”, it has provided for a structure of governance which is essentially federal in nature.
Within the basic framework of federalism, the Constitution has given overriding powers to
the Central government. The objective of the Constitution makers was to have a Cooperative
Federalism.

However, it is observed that national parties tend to lead to centralization of powers. Since
independence, for four decades, India was under one-party dominant system, which was seen
as a unitary government. But it’s a fact that, the emergence of regional political parties has
contributed greatly to the breakdown of one-party dominant system at the centre and has
played a conducive role in strengthening the process of decentralization of power.

The regional political parties have placed the state in a vital position of Indian Politics and
also been playing major role at the national policies and further federalized the working of
Indian Federalism. Hence, during the coalition era of Indian Politics, the role of regional
political parties within coalition government has a major impact on federal system of India.

8 http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk/Indianpoliticalsystem.html

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 CHAPTER-VI: IMPACT OF COALITION POLITICS 9

In Indian Political System, Coalition Politics is a matter of fact. If we analyze the impact of
coalition politics on Indian Federalism, we shall realize that, in some cases, the Indian
Federal System has been strengthened as well as weakened by the coalition government in
India. In fact, the Indian Party System has gone through a different phases from One Party
Dominance to Multi Party system. It has different phases like 1952-67, 1967-77, 1977-89 and
1989 onwards.

1952-1967:

It had been found that whenever power was centralized in the hands of one dominant party
(Congress) at the centre which was known as one party dominance phase, the nature of Indian
Federalism was considered to be a Centralized Federation. Where, non-congress parties in
different states had loud voices against the Centre and thus, the nature of centre-state
relations in India had been determined or influenced mostly by this factor.

1967-1977:

In the second phase of Indian party system, when non-congress governments were
established in several states, the demand for state autonomy was also very strong. The
declaration of national emergency in June 1975 affected the position of Congress party and in
the election held in 1977, it lost its majority and the newly formed Janta party, a constituent
of many parties, formed a coalition government.

1977-1989:

But it was unable to unite all the constituent parties for long and in the next election held in
1980, the Congress party secured majority which continued up to 1989. During internal
national emergency period 1975-77, Indian Federation was totally converted into unitary
form and democracy to dictatorship. Because of its reactions the dominant Congress party
was overthrown by the newly formed coalition government of Janta party. Non-congress
national or regional political parties had come to power when coalition partners also
overthrown congress from number of federative units. But coalition government of Janta
party could not survive for a long. Ultimately, the earlier dominant party Congress recaptured
the power at centre and in number of states too. As a result, the possibility of representation

9 Bhattacharyya, D.C. (2014). Indian Government and Politics. Vijoya Publishing House,

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of the regional or state political parties had been reduced in the federal government of India.
Because of the demand for state autonomy and for strong state strong centre a Sarkaria
Commission was constituted in April 1983 to examine the centre-state relations in India.

1989 onwards:10

But, in the next phase of 1989 onwards the nature of Indian party system changed from one
party dominance to a multi party system. A coalition government of Janata Dal came into
power overthrowing the Congress out of power in 1989 LokSabha election. After 1989 and
till date the central has been governed by coalition governments. This transition from one
party dominant system, in which the central government functioned largely in accordance
with the Constitution providing for a strong centre, to a coalition government in which
regional aspirations had to be satisfied, affected the very nature of the federal government in
India. In states also, the rule of the Congress party gave way to the rule by coalition of
parties. However, while in some states, e.g. West Bengal and Kerala, the coalition politics
gave stability to government, but in a number of states, it was marked by instability inviting
central interventions frequently.

In fact, after 1989 phase which is known as Coalition phase or Multi Party System phase, no
national political party could capture power or obtain majority in Lok Sabha alone.
Each time a number of political parties or a blend of national and regional political parties
formed the government at Centre.

For example: The first three coalition governments at the national level, --- the National
Front under V.P. Singh in 1989 and two United Fronts led by H. D. Deve Gowda in
1996 and I.K. Gujral in 1997 that were led by Janta Dal proved short lived due to internal
problems and absence of adequate institutional mechanisms. As a consequence, these
coalition governments suffered from instability which affected the smooth functioning of
federal system of India.

After the failure of Janta Dal two broad fronts or major alliances came into existence
after 1997, ---the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by BJP with the support of
some regional parties and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by the Congress party.
As it was generally believed that coalition governments had come to stay, these two broad-
based national coalitions, --- NDA and UPA , learning from past experiences, developed

10 Bhattacharyya, D.C. (2014). Indian Government and Politics. Vijoya Publishing House,

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certain institutional frameworks for coordination among coalition partners and a suitable
mechanism between the Prime Minister and leaders of main supporting parties. Working
within such institutional framework, both NDA-I (1999-2004) and UPA phase-I (2004-09) &
phase-II (2009-14) have been able to govern the country for full terms, which has provided
stability to the Central government in the federal system of India.

In the 2014, 16thLokSabha Elections, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by
the BJP, won a sweeping victory, taking 336 seats, the BJP self winning 282 seats. It is
the first since the 1984 Indian General Elections that a party has won enough seats to form
the government without the support of other parties. In this election, UPA won 60 seats and
the regional political parties succeeded in securing more than hundred seats.

11
But, in the Parliamentary Election of 2014, the national or regional political parties
those who are not the part of two main alliances of NDA or UPA, have formed the Third
Front. Some political parties like CPI, CPM, BSP, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress,
Janata Dal United are trying to weigh their weight. During this era, those regional political
parties like Shiromani Akali Dal, National Conference, DMK, Telgu Desam, Assam Gana
Parishad, Lok Dal etc. are partners of the coalition government at centre as well as ruling
their respective state are the strategic partners of NDA or UPA or Third Front. As a result, the
loud voices demanding for state autonomy are weakening in these days. However,We still
hear some voices from those states where other opposition parties have come to power other
than the ruling alliance at centre.

11 International Journal of Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences, ISSN 2250-0558, Volume 6

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 CHAPTER-VII: CONCLUSION

After understanding the Indian Political System and the concept of coalition and also it’s pros
and cons, we may finally come to some conclusion. The fact of the matter is that India has
had coalition governments in the past and it will continue to have in the future as well.
Therefore, it is in best interest for all that parties develop a sense of understanding and do not
play games of power politics and bad politics. It is high time that the MPs realize how bad
India fares on other economic variables in the world, and it is time they put their energy in
improving those than just catering to their selfish interests.

If political parties feel that coalitions are too much of a compromise and always lead to
unstable governments, then India can think of alternative forms of government ; the
presidential system can be one but it has its own cons. It is very important for the political
parties to moderate their ideas as there are no ready-made formulas or easy solutions to make
coalitions work in a smooth manner.

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 BIBILIOGRAPHY

References

» Bhattacharyya, D.C. (2014). Indian Government and Politics. Vijoya Publishing

House, pp 478-487.
» Basu, Durga D. (2009). "11". Introduction to the Constitution of India. Nagpur, India:
LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur
» Riker, William H. “Federalism: Origin, Operation, Significance” in American
Federalism in Perspective, edited by A. Wildavsky, Little Brown and Co., 1967 p.59.
» Chander N. Jose. Coalition Politics: The Indian Experience. New Delhi: Concept
Publishing Company, 2004.
» Sahni, Nares Chander. ed. Coalition Politics in India. Julludur. New Academic
Publishing Co, 1971.
» Sharma TR. Seamy Side Coalition Governments, in Vidhanmala., Shimla: Himachal
Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, 2000, VII(1).
» Chakarbarty, Bidyut. Forging Power: Coalition Politics in India. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 2006.
» IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 21, Issue 4,
Ver. 06 (Apr. 2016) pp 56-61, e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-
0845.(http://www.iosrjournals.org)
» Online International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, ISSN 2249-9598, Volume-V,
Nov 2015 Special Issue. (http://www.oiirj.org)
» International Journal of Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences, ISSN 2250-
0558, Volume 6, Issue 03, March 2016.(http://www.indusedu.org)
» Nilofer S. Wassem Ahmad. Coalition Government in India, in Indian Journal of
Political Science. Vol. LXX.
» Sharda, Mridula. Regional Political Parties and Indian Federalism, in Vidhanmala,
Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, 2010, IV(2).
» Prasad Kamla. Lok Sabha Elections 2009: Emerging Trends in National Politics, in
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» http://www.eci.nic.in

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