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Ours is the age of globalization which has a deep and wide spread impact on various aspects of life including political, social and economic institutions as well as activities. In this light the growing importance of coalition politics and government has emerged as a reality. Due to the emergence of various ethnic cultural and lingual groups, and problems created by them, the coalition politics has presented itself as a cure in various countries – developed, developing and underdeveloped. India is world’s largest democracy where a large number of groups based on ethnic, cultural, lingual caste and regional considerations exist. After the decline of one party rule (Congress), the coalition became a necessity, the only way to form and run a government at the centre and states since 1989. It has left an impact on various aspects of Indian polity-political system, party system, federal structure, political, social and ethnic groups, political parties, pressure groups, electoral politics and overall constitutional development of India. In this book – these various aspects have been discussed keeping in view the group realities. A chapter has been devoted to the discussion of relevance and future of coalition politics in India along with some behavioural suggestions. It is hoped this book would provide a fresh direction to the theory and practice of coalition government and politics in India.

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Working of Parliamentary Government in India till 1996. 3. Coalition politics in India since 1996. 4. The Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. 5. Impact of coalition politics on political system. 6. Federalism and coalition politics in India. 7. Constitutional problems. 8. Political problems. 9. Relevance and future. 10. Conclusion. Appendices. Bibliography. Index.