Read the passage and answer the questions:
Coalition politics
Most of the state units of the Congress were made up of numerous factions. The system of factions functioned as balancing mechanism within the ruling party. Political competition therefore took place within the Congress. In that sense, in the first decade of electoral competition the Congress acted both as the ruling party as well as the opposition. That is why this period of Indian politics has been described as the ‘Congress system’.
After the defeat of the Congress in the 1989 Elections, the nineties saw yet another challenge to the predominant position of the Congress. It did not, however, mean the emergence of any other single party to fill in its place. Thus, began an era of multi-party system. To be sure, a large number of political parties always contested elections in our country. Our Parliament always had representatives from several political parties. What happened after 1989 was the emergence of several parties in such a way that one or two parties did not get most of the votes or seats. This also meant that no single party secured a clear majority of seats in any Lok Sabha election held since 1989 till 2014. This development initiated an era of coalition governments at the Centre, in which regional parties played a crucial role in forming ruling alliances but in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP got clear majority on its own.
What kind of role did the regional parties play?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Regional parties ensured a multi-party coalition government was formed at the centre
After 1989 no single party won a clear majority, and this began an era of coalition governments at the Centre, in which regional parties played a major role in forming ruling alliances. Their role was large, not ‘virtually no role’ or ‘very limited’; and in 2019 the BJP got a clear majority on its own.
Note: This passage is taken from two NCERT chapters almost word for word: the first paragraph from ‘Era of One-party Dominance’ and the second from ‘Recent Developments in Indian Politics’. A case study can join lines from different chapters, so give every chapter of the book a full reading.
NCERT (2025-26): “Decline of Congress … Thus, began an era of multi-party system. To be sure, a large number of political parties always contested elections in our country. Our Parliament always had representatives from several political parties. What happened after 1989 was the emergence of several parties in such a way that one or two parties did not get most of the votes or seats. This also meant that no single party secured a clear majority of seats in any Lok Sabha election held since 1989 till 2014. This development initiated an era of coalition governments at the Centre, in which regional parties played a crucial role in forming ruling alliances but in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP got clear majority on its own.” |