Question

Analyse any two factors responsible for the change in the nature of coalition governments at the Centre after the General Elections of 2014.

Hint:

Key structural shifts post-2014: - 1989–2014: Weak coalitions dependent on regional parties. - Post-2014: Dominant single-party majority leading a surplus alliance (NDA), reducing regional leverage.

Answer 1

Concept: Between 1989 and 2014, Indian politics operated under a multi-party coalition era where no single political party secured an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha. However, the 16th General Elections in May 2014 marked a major structural shift in central coalition dynamics.

Step 1: Factor 1: Emergence of Single-Party Majority within Coalitions (Dominant Party Coalition).
Prior to 2014, central coalitions (such as the NDA under Atal Bihari Vajpayee or the UPA under Manmohan Singh) relied heavily on regional coalition partners for legislative survival. In the 2014 general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 282 seats on its own, crossing the single-party majority threshold (272 seats). Although the BJP formed a coalition government under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the lead party was no longer vulnerable to political blackmail or policy paralysis from smaller alliance partners. This transformed the arrangement from a "compelled coalition" to a "majority-led surplus coalition."

Step 2: Factor 2: Centralisation of Political Agenda and National Leadership.
Post-2014 coalition politics witnessed a shift toward strong central leadership and a unified national policy agenda. Smaller regional coalition partners experienced diminished bargaining power regarding cabinet allocations and central policy decisions. National issues, welfare delivery schemes, and national security dominated the electoral discourse over localized regional demands, reshaping the power balance between central and state-based parties.