Recent developments in Indian politics
- Class: 12th
- Subject: Social Science (Political Science)
- Topic: Recent developments in Indian politics
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Class 12 Social Science (Political science ) -Recent developments in Indian politics
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Development in Indian politics (Context of 1990's)
The trends and developments in Indian politics are complex at different stages. The advent of coalition politics has induced pronounced political changes but coalition politics itself can be seen as a consequence of these changes.
After the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister through a massive victory in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections.
Some of the developments visible during the end of 1980's which made long-lasting impact on Indian politics are discussed below
End of Congress System
This period witnessed the defeat of the Congress party in the elections of 1989. The party that had won 415 seats in the Lok Sabha in 1984 was reduced to only 197 in this election. The elections of 1989 marked the end of the 'Congress System'. The Congress improved its performance and came back to power after the mid-term elections of 1991. The politics of this decade has clearly seen the impact of social change on political and electoral processes.
Mandal Issue
Second development was the rise of Mandal issue in the national politics. The new National Front Government in 1990 implemented the recommendation of the Mandal Commission. It held that jobs in Central Government should be the reserved for the OBC's. This caused violent anti-Mandal protests in different parts of the country. The dispute was evident among the supporters and opponents of OBC's reservations came to be known as Mandal Issue. This issue helped in shaping Indian politics since 1989.
New Economic Reforms
It was initiated by Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 which changed the direction of the Indian economy that was pursued since independence. The new economic reforms were widely criticised by various movements and organisations. But various governments that came to power continued these policies. Reforms were evident in the form of additional sectors that were reserved for public investment was opened for private investment.
Ayodhya Dispute
Another issue was the demolition of Babri Masjid and rise of Hindutva Politics. A number of events resulted in the demolition of disputed structure known as Babri Masjid in December 1992. This event brought various changes in the politics of the country and intensified debates on the nature of Indian nationalism and secularism. These developments led to the rise of BJP and politics of Hindutva.
Change in Congress Leadership
The last development was the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 led to change in the leadership of the Congress party. He was assassinated during his election campaign tour in Tamil Nadu by a Sri Lankan Tamil associated to the LTTE. The Congress emerged as the single largest party in the elections of 1991 and Narsimha Rao was chosen as Prime Minister after the death of Rajiv Gandhi.
Era of Coalitions
With 1989 elections, an era of coalitions came up with the beginning of third electoral system. This era is built around the core principles that include a sharp rise in political competition at the national level and declining margins of victory in parliamentary races. With the defeat of Congress Party in the 1989 elections, no other party emerged in majority at the Central level.
Congress was the largest party in the Lok Sabha but as it didn't got clear majority so it decided to sit in the opposition. The National Front (an alliance of Janta Dal and other regional parties) got support from BJP and the Left Front. On this basis, the National Front formed the government but BJP and Left Front didn't join this government.
Decline of Congress
The end of Congress dominance in the Indian party system emerged after the defeat of Congress in the election. During the late 1960's, when the dominance of the Congress Party was challenged, Indira Gandhi successfully re-established its dominant position in politics.
The era of 1990's witnessed another challenge to the predominant position of Congress as no single party could replace Congress.
This led to the emergence of multi-party system in the Indian political scenario. Since 1989 no single party secured a clear majority in any Lok Sabha elections. Thus, this development initiated an era of coalition government at the centre in which regional parties played an important role in forming ruling alliances. The vote share belonging to regional parties has expanded, while growth in voter turnout in national elections has halted and electoral politics has become 'federalised.'
Alliance Politics
Political alliance is an agreement for cooperation between different political parties on common political agend a, often for purposes of contesting an election to mutually benefit by collectively clearing election thresholds.
The 90's witnessed the emergence of powerful parties and movements that represented the Dalit and backward castes (OBC's).
These parties played an important role in the formation of United Front Government in 1996 which was supported by Congress.
Between 1989 and 1990, the National Front was a coalition of political parties led by the Janata Dal that constituted India's Government under the leadership of NT Rama Rao as President.
Following the 1996 general elections in India, the United Front was created as a coalition government of 13 political parties.
Both Left Front and BJP supported the National Front Government as they wanted to keep the Congress out of power. Although in 1996, the Left Front continued to support the non-Congress government with Congress support to keep BJP out of power.
They didn't succeed for long because the BJP constantly consolidated its position of 1991 and 1996. BJP emerged as the largest party in 1996 elections as it was invited to form the government.
Its policies were opposed by other parties so BJP could not secure majority in the Lok Sabha.
A coalition government was formed by BJP from May 1998 to June 1999 and it was re-elected in October 1999. During both these terms, NDA (National Democratic Alliance) i.e. BJP-led coalitions formed the government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister.
A long phase of coalition politics began with the elections of 1989. Since then, there have been nine governments at the centre. All of which have been either coalition governments or minority governments supported by other parties. In this phase, any government could be formed only with the participation of regional parties. This was visible during for instance
- The National Front Government in 1989.
- The United Front Government in 1996 and 1997.
- National Democratic Alliance (NDA), BJP-led coalitions in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
- United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2004 and 2009.
However, this trend of coalition government changed in 2014.
Political Rise of Other Backward Classes
One long term development of this period emerged in the form of rise of Other Backward Classes (OBC's). Here, the These communities other than SC and ST who suffer term OBC refers to the administrative category OBC. from educational and social backwardness also referred to as backward castes.
Many Non-Congress parties like the Janata Party government in 1977 supported these communities. Parties like Bhartiya Kranti Dal and the Samyukta Socialist Party also had a powerful rural base among sections of OBC.
Mandal Implemented
Southern States have had reservations for the OBC since the 1960's, if not before. However, this policy did not apply to the states of North India. The demand for reservations for backward castes in North India and at the national level was forcefully promoted during the duration of the Janata Party government in 1977-1979.
Following this, in 1978, the Central Government established a commission to investigate and recommend methods to ameliorate the conditions of the poor.
As a result, the commission was dubbed the Second Backward Classes Commission. The Committee is commonly refered to as the Mandal Commission, after its chairperson, Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal.
Recommendations of Mandal Commission
The Mandal Commission was set up to investigate the extent of educational and social backwardness among various sections of Indian society. It recommend ways of identifying these 'backward classes'. It was also expected to give its recommendations on the ways in which this backwardness could be ended. The Commission gave its recommendations in 1980.
The Commission advised that 'backward classes' should be understood to mean 'backward castes', since many castes, other than the Scheduled Castes, were also treated as low in the caste hierarchy.
Consequences of Implementing Mandal Commission
This decision caused agitations and violent protests in many cities of North India.
The decision was also challenged in the Supreme Court and came to be known as the Indira Sawhney Case, after the name of the petitioners.
In November 1992, the Supreme Court gave a ruling upholding the decision of the government.
Political Fallouts
The 1980s also saw the rise of political organisation of the Dalits. In 1978 the Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF) was formed. This organisation was not an ordinary trade union of government employees. It took a strong position in favour of political power to the 'bahujan' - the SC, ST, OBC and minorities. It was out of this that the subsequent Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti and later the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) emerged under the leadership of Kanshi Ram.
The BSP began as a small party supported largely by Dalit voters in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. But in 1989 and the 1991 elections, it achieved a breakthrough in Uttar Pradesh. This was the first time in independent India that a political party supported mainly by Dalit voters had achieved this kind of political success.
In fact, the BSP, under Kanshi Ram's leadership was envisaged as an organisation based on pragmatic politics. It derived confidence from the fact that the Bahujans (SC, ST, OBC and religious minorities) constituted the majority of the population, and were a formidable political force on the strength of their numbers.
Since then the BSP has emerged as a major political player in the State and has been in government on more than one occasion. Its strongest support still comes from Dalit voters, but it has expanded its support now to various other social groups. In many parts of India, Dalit politics and OBC politics have developed independently and often in competition with each other.
Communalism, Secularism and Democracy
The long-term development during this period was the rise of communal politics. This led to debate about secularism and democracy. After Emergency, Bharatiya Jana Sangh had merged into the Janata Party. After the fall of the Janata Party and its break-up, the supporters of erstwhile Jana Sangh formed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980. BJP adopted a broader political platform than that of the Jana Sangh and embraced Gandhian Socialism as its ideology but it did not get much success in the election of 1980 and 1984.
After 1986, the party began to emphasise the Hindu nationalist element in its ideology. Thus, BJP began to emphasise the politics of 'Hindutva' and adopted the strategy of mobilising the Hindus.
(pitrubhu) but also as their holy land (punyabhumi). VD Savarkar, the originator of Hindutva defined it as the basis of Indian nationhood. It basically mean that everyone in India should accept India not only as their fatherland The major incidences in 1986 became central to the politics of BJP as a 'Hindutva Party'. These were
Shah Bano Case
In this case, a 62 year old divorced Muslim woman had filed a case for alimony (maintenance) from her ex-husband. The Supreme Court sentenced in her favour. The orthodox (traditional) Muslim saw the Supreme Court's order as an interference in Muslim personal law.
The government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 on the demand of some Muslim leaders to make invalid the Supreme Court's judgement. This action of government was opposed by many women's organisations, Muslim groups and intellectuals. The BJP criticised this action of the Congress government as an appeasement of the minority community.
Ayodhya Dispute
In February 1986, the Faizabad district court ordered that the Babri Masjid premises be opened so that Hindus could offer prayers at the site which they considered as a temple. A dispute had been going on for many decades over the mosque known as Babri Masjid at Ayodhya. The Babri Masjid was a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya built by Mir Baqi, Mughal emperor Babur's General.
Some Hindus believe that it was built after demolishing a Temple for Lord Rama as his birth place. The dispute took the form of a court case and has continued for many decades. In the late 1940s, the Mosque was locked up as the matter was with the court.
Consequences of Ayodhya Dispute
Mobilisation began on both sides as the locks of the Babri Masjid were opened.
The BJP made this issue its major electoral and political plank.
This dispute organised a series of symbolic and mobilisational programmes along with the RSS and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).
In December 1992, the organisations supporting the construction of the Temple had organised a Karseva, for building the Ram Temple.
Supreme Court had ordered the state government to take care that disputed site will not be endangered. But thousands of people gathered from all over the country at
Ayodhya on 6th December, 1992 and demolished the Mosque.
In Mumbai, violence erupted in January, 1993 and continued for over two weeks.
Demolition and After
The State Government with the BJP as ruling party was dismissed by the centre. Besides, in other state where BJP was in power were also brought under the President's rule.
A case against the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh was registered in the Supreme Court for contempt of court because he had given an undertaking that the disputed structure will be protected.
BJP officially expressed regret over the incident at Ayodhya. The Central Government appointed a commission to investigate into the circumstances leading to the demolition of the mosque.
Most of political parties condemned the demolition and declared that this was against the principles of secularism.
Emergence of New Consensus
Sometimes the period after 1989 is seen as a period of decline of Congress and rise of BJP. Despite severe competition and many conflicts, a broad consensus emerged on many crucial issues. These were
First agreement was on new economic policies.
Most political parties have consensus about the new economic policies despite the fact many groups opposed this. As it was believed that these policies will bring prosperity and help the country to be an economic power in the world.
Second was the acceptance of political and social claims of the backward castes.
Most of the political parties accepted and supported the reservation of seats for the backward classes in education and employment. Political Parties also ensure that the OBC's get adequate share of power.
The third acceptance was the role of regional parties.
The role of state level parties in governance of the country is accepted by all major parties. Regional parties are sharing power at the national level and has been playing central role in the politics of the country for twenty years.
The fourth emphasis was on pragmatic considerations rather than the ideological.
Most of the political parties' emphasis on practical considerations rather than ideological positions. The coalition politics has shifted the focus of political parties from ideological differences to power sharing arrangements. For instance, most parties of NDA didn't agree with the hindutva ideology.
UPA-I and II
In the General Election of 2009, UPA won 262 seats, of which the Congress accounted for 206 seats. Manmohan Singh formed another UPA coalition cabinet and was sworn in for a second term, becoming the first Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to do so after having served a full five-year first term. The government made employment generation and social equity as the important features of its agenda.
Under UPA-II, women began occupying senior positions in State and Union Territory governments, notably in highly populated Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. It also worked upon the issues of revitalising the agrarian economy, stepping up investment in agriculture, providing access to credit and improving the quality of rural infrastructure.
NDA III and IV
The Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi got an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha elections held in May 2014 and after nearly 30 years in Indian politics; a strong government with an absolute majority was established at the Centre.
Though called NDA III, the BJP-led coalition of 2014 was largely different its predecessor coalition governments. Where the previous coalitions were led by one of the national parties, the NDA III coalition was not only steered by a national party, i.e., BJP it was also dominated by BJP with an absolute majority of its own in Lok Sabha.
It was also called a 'surplus majority coalition'. In that sense a major transformation could be seen in the nature of coalition politics which could be seen from one party led coalition to one party dominated coalition.
The 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the 17th since independence, once again brought back BJP led NDA [NDA IV] to the centre of power by winning more than 350 seats out of 543.
The BJP on its own won 303 seats in Lok Sabha, the biggest number any single party has won in the lower house since 1984 when Congress swept the elections in the aftermath of Mrs Indira Gandhi's assassination. Based on the tumultuous success of the BJP in 2019, Social Scientists have started equating the contemporary party system with the 'BJP System' where an era of one party dominance, like the 'Congress System' has once again started appearing on the democratic politics of India.
Issues of Development and Governance
A major change in Indian politics after 2014 is the shift from caste and religion based politics to development and governance oriented politics. With its pre-intended goal Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, the NDA III Government started several socio-economic welfare schemes to make development and governance accessible to the masses such as
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana,
- Swachh Bharat Abhiyan,
- Jan-Dhan Yojana,
- Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana,
- Kisan Fasal Bima Yojna,
- Beti Padhao, Desh Badhao,
- Ayushman Bharat Yojana,etc.
All these schemes intended to take administration to the doorstep of the common man by making the rural households, particularly the women, real beneficiaries of the Central Government schemes.
The success of these schemes could be seen from the results of 2019 Lok Sabha elections where the voters across states castes, classes, communities, gender and regions brought back the issues of development and governance to the centre stage. It was under the BJP led NDA Government characterising the current change with 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas'.