KERALA, COALITION POLITICS

KERALA, COALITION POLITICS In parliamentary democracies, political parties constitute the most essential elements for a nation's successful functioning. In India, coalition politics came rather late, mainly because the omnibus Indian National Congress, the institutional vehicle that brought freedom to India, remained the multipolar party that ruled India's central government for three decades after independence. Non-Congress parties could not effectively organize coalition opposition to Congress at the national level prior to 1975. In Kerala state, however, soon after its formation in 1957, Congress lost to the Communist Party of India, elected with minority parties who supported its Left Democratic Front.

Between 1957 and 2003, there were twelve midterm elections to Kerala's state assembly. Of the eighteen state governments since 1957, only two were led by a single party, and both of these were short-lived. Congress led its own United Democratic Front coalition, which alternated in governing Kerala with the Left Democratic Front. The United Democratic Front government, led by Congress's A. K. Antony, has ruled the state since May 2001.

The Bharatiya Janata Party could not win even a single seat in Kerala's 140-member state assembly, or any of Kerala's 20 seats in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India's Parliament) or its 9 seats in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India's Parliament).

Coalition politics in Kerala has built consensus among parties and public, and political discourse in Kerala is constantly energized through the dynamics of multiparty debates within the coalition framework. As in London's parliamentary democracy, Kerala's opposition is expected to play a constructive, responsible role. The Treasury Bench, on the other hand, estimates the potential of the rival front to come to power in the next election, thereby providing much-needed political stability and continuity. Viewed from this perspective, Kerala can serve as a model to most other Indian states, though forging an ideological unity is hardly possible in a democratic pluralist culture.

G. Gopa Kumar

See alsoKerala, Model of Development

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chander, N. Jose. Coalition Politics: The Indian Experience. New Delhi: Concept Publishers, 2004.

Gopa Kumar, G. Regional Political Parties and State Politics. New Delhi: Deep and Deep, 1986.

John John, Pariyarathu. Coalition Governments in Kerala. Trivandrum: Institute for the Study of Public Policy, 1983.

Nair, A. Balakrishnan. Government and Politics of Kerala. Thiruvananthapuram: Indira Publications, 1994.

Ramakrishnan Nair, R. The Middle Class Rule in Kerala. Tivandrum: Kerala Academy of Political Science, 1978.

——. Social Structure and Political Developments in Kerala. Trivandrum: Policy Studies Institute, 1978.

Thomas, E. J. Coalition Game Politics in Kerala. New Delhi: Intellectual Publishing House, 1985.