Chapter 8 — Recent Developments in Indian Politics

The chapter identifies five developments: (1) the defeat of Congress in the 1989 elections, reducing it from 415 to 197 Lok Sabha seats; (2) the rise of the Mandal issue and OBC reservation debate after the National Front government's 1990 decision to implement the Mandal Commission's recommendations; (3) the launch of structural adjustment and new economic reforms, initiated by Rajiv Gandhi and made very visible in 1991; (4) the Ram Janmabhoomi movement at Ayodhya influencing the discourse on secularism and democracy; and (5) the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 by a Sri Lankan Tamil linked to the LTTE, which led to Narsimha Rao becoming Prime Minister.

The Mandal Commission was officially the Second Backward Classes Commission, set up in 1978 during the Janata Party government and chaired by Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal (1918–1982). It submitted its recommendations in 1980. The Commission found that 'backward castes' — communities other than SC and ST suffering from educational and social backwardness — had very low presence in educational institutions and public services. It recommended reserving 27% of seats in educational institutions and government jobs for these groups, along with other measures such as land reform to improve OBC conditions.

In August 1990, the National Front government decided to implement the Mandal Commission's recommendation of OBC reservation in central government jobs and undertakings. This sparked agitations and violent protests in many cities of north India. The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court, a case known as the Indira Sawhney case. In November 1992, the Supreme Court upheld the government's decision. The chapter notes that today all major political parties support OBC reservation.

The 1989 elections were a decisive turning point. Congress, which had won 415 seats in 1984, was reduced to 197. No other party won a majority either. The National Front — an alliance of Janata Dal and several regional parties — formed a coalition government with outside support from the BJP and the Left Front, neither of which joined the government. This marked the end of the 'Congress system' and initiated an era in which no single party won a clear Lok Sabha majority until 2014, making coalition and minority governments the norm.

On 9 November 2019, a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous 5-0 verdict. The verdict allotted the disputed site to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust for construction of the Ram Temple, and directed the concerned government to allot an alternative appropriate site to the Sunni Central Waqf Board for a mosque. The resolution was based on evidence including archaeological excavations and historical records. The chapter describes it as a classic example of consensus building on a sensitive issue through the due process of law.

Hindutva was popularised by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and holds that to be an Indian, one must accept India as both 'fatherland' (pitrubhu) and holy land (punyabhu). After gaining little success in the 1984 elections, the BJP after 1986 began emphasising nationalism and Hindutva as the core of its ideology. Two events around 1986 became central: the Shah Bano case and the Ayodhya issue. Through these, the BJP consolidated its position across the 1991 and 1996 elections, eventually leading NDA coalition governments under Atal Behari Vajpayee (May 1998–June 1999, and October 1999 onward, completing a full term).

The Shah Bano case arose in 1985 when a 62-year-old divorced Muslim woman filed for maintenance from her former husband. The Supreme Court ruled in her favour. On the demand of some Muslim leaders, however, the government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, which nullified the Supreme Court's judgment. This action was opposed by women's organisations, many Muslim groups, and most intellectuals. The BJP criticised it as unnecessary 'appeasement' of the minority community, and the controversy became one of two major developments around 1986 that shaped BJP's political trajectory.

Kanshi Ram (1934–2006) was a proponent of Bahujan empowerment who left his central government job for social and political work. He founded BAMCEF in 1978, then the Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4), and finally the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984. The BSP began with Dalit voter support mainly in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, achieving a breakthrough in Uttar Pradesh in the 1989 and 1991 elections. This was the first time in independent India that a party supported mainly by Dalit voters achieved this kind of political success. The BSP later expanded its support to other social groups and has been in government in Uttar Pradesh on more than one occasion.

The chapter identifies four elements of the cross-party consensus that emerged by the 1990s: (1) Agreement on new economic policies — most parties support them as a path to national prosperity; (2) Acceptance of backward castes' social and political claims — all major parties now support OBC reservation in education and employment; (3) Acceptance of state-level parties in national governance — the distinction between state and national parties has become less important as regional parties share central power; (4) Emphasis on pragmatic considerations over ideological positions — coalition politics has shifted focus to power-sharing arrangements, as seen when most NDA parties allied with the BJP despite disagreeing with its Hindutva ideology.

In 1996, the BJP emerged as the largest party but could not secure a majority, so its government fell quickly. It then led a coalition from May 1998 to June 1999, was re-elected in October 1999, and the Atal Behari Vajpayee NDA government completed its full term. In 2014, under Narendra Modi's leadership, the BJP won 282 seats — the first single-party majority in 30 years. In 2019, the BJP further increased its tally to 303 seats. Even when achieving outright majorities, the BJP chose to form NDA coalition governments with its partners.

The chapter argues that coalition politics is rooted in long-term changes occurring over several decades. Earlier, the Congress party itself functioned as a 'coalition' of different interests and social groups — what was called the 'Congress system'. From the late 1960s onward, various sections left the Congress to form separate parties, and regional parties multiplied after 1977. These developments weakened Congress without enabling any single party to replace it. Thus, the internal coalition within Congress transformed into external electoral coalitions among multiple parties, making coalition governance the logic of India's multi-party democratic system.

Regional parties became crucial participants in forming coalition governments at the Centre from 1989 onward. The National Front (1989) was itself an alliance of the Janata Dal and several regional parties, with outside support from the BJP and Left Front. The United Front (1996) similarly included Janata Dal and regional parties and was supported by the Congress. Dalit and OBC parties that represented powerful regional assertions also played an important role in the United Front government of 1996. The chapter states that since 1989, any government at the Centre could be formed only with the participation or support of many regional parties.

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