Recent Developments in Indian Politics

Written and reviewed by Subhra Gupta, Humanities faculty at UniDrill (M.A. Sociology, University of Delhi · 7 years teaching Humanities). Based on NCERT Political Science Class XII (Politics in India since Independence), Chapter 8.

415 seats to 197 in five years: what happened?

In the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, Congress won 415 seats, one of the largest majorities in the history of the Lok Sabha. In 1989 it won 197. Within those five years, several issues came together that changed how Indian parties compete, who they speak for and what kinds of governments they form. This chapter follows those changes up to the 2019 election.

Five developments of the late 1980s

These are listed by theme, not strictly by date. For example, the reforms began in the closing months of Rajiv Gandhi's government and became visible in 1991.

Timeline: 1978 to 2019

The end of the Congress system

For most of the years from 1952 to 1984, Congress was the party around which Indian politics revolved. In 1989, with 197 seats, it was out of power, and although it returned in 1991 as the largest party, it never regained its earlier central position. Many parties have since formed governments, and none had the kind of dominance Congress once enjoyed.

The era of coalitions

After the 1989 elections no party had a majority. The National Front (an alliance of the Janata Dal and some regional parties) formed a government under V.P. Singh, with outside support from two groups that stood at opposite ends of the political spectrum: the BJP and the Left Front. Neither joined the government. After 1989, it became a pattern that regional parties shaped who formed governments at the Centre.

Prime Ministers since 1989

The 1999 NDA government was the first non-Congress government to complete a full five-year term. It followed an earlier NDA government that lasted about thirteen months from 1998.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: no party won a clear majority of Lok Sabha seats in any election from 1989 to 2014. In reality: the Lok Sabha has 543 elected seats, so a majority needs 272. This is the line Congress was far below in 1989 (197), and the BJP crossed in 2014 (282) and 2019 (303). A single party winning more than half the seats had not happened for thirty years before 2014.

Pause and predict: In 1989 the BJP and the Left Front both supported the same government from outside. In 1996 the Congress supported the United Front from outside. Which one of these two governments had the BJP's outside support?

Check your answer: The National Front of 1989. The 1996 United Front was supported by Congress, not by the BJP. The simple memory aid: 1989 means BJP plus Left, 1996 means Congress.

OBC politics and the Mandal Commission

Why OBCs entered national politics. Caste-based mobilisation of the backward classes had its roots in the lower-caste movements of the colonial period. It reached national political expression after the 1980s. The Janata Party government of 1977 was an early expression of this politics, and the Janata Dal carried it forward in the 1980s.

Mandal Commission: the sequence. The Second Backward Classes Commission, chaired by B.P. Mandal, was set up in 1978. It submitted its report in 1980, recommending that "backward classes" be understood as backward castes, and that 27 per cent of seats in educational institutions and government jobs be reserved for them, along with other recommendations such as land reform. In August 1990, the National Front government decided to implement the job reservation at the Centre. This led to strong protests, mainly in north India. The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case, and in November 1992 the Court upheld it while excluding the "creamy layer", the better off sections of the OBCs.

The chain in one line: 1978 Commission set up → 1980 report → August 1990 implementation → protests → November 1992 Indra Sawhney judgment

Two views. For the exam: supporters of the Mandal decision argued that caste is the main marker of social and educational backwardness and that reservation would give OBCs a share in power and public jobs. Another reading: opponents argued that caste-based reservation would sharpen caste divisions and that other criteria should be considered. The Supreme Court's creamy layer exclusion was part of the answer to this debate.

Dalit politics: from BAMCEF to the BSP

BAMCEF (Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation) was formed in 1978 and favoured political power for the bahujan, a term for Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis and religious minorities together. From it came the Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS-4) and then, in 1984, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) under Kanshi Ram (1934 to 2006). The BSP had a breakthrough in Uttar Pradesh in the 1989 and 1991 elections. Kanshi Ram saw political power as the master key to social equality.

New economic policies

A structural adjustment programme began in the last months of Rajiv Gandhi's government and became visible in 1991 under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, with Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister. It moved the economy away from the model followed since Independence: opening the economy, reducing licensing and encouraging private and foreign investment. Later governments continued the policy, though it has drawn criticism.

Communalism, secularism and democracy

After the Janata Party broke up, supporters of the former Jana Sangh formed the BJP in 1980. It started with "Gandhian Socialism" and did poorly in 1984, winning only two seats. From 1986, it began to emphasise nationalism and the politics of Hindutva. The idea of Hindutva was popularised by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar: to be Indian, one must accept India as one's fatherland (pitrubhu) and holy land (punyabhu). Its supporters hold that a strong nation rests on a united national culture.

The Shah Bano case. In 1985, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Shah Bano, a 62-year-old divorced Muslim woman who had asked for maintenance from her former husband under criminal law. The government then passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which nullified the judgment, following the opposition of some sections of the Muslim community.

Two views. For the exam: the BJP and other critics described the 1986 Act as appeasement of a minority community. Another reading: women's groups and many legal commentators saw the Act as a loss for the rights of divorced Muslim women. The case is read as part of the wider debate on secularism and personal law.

Pause and predict: The Shah Bano judgment was in 1985 and the Act in 1986. A question says "the Act led to the judgment". Is it right?

Check your answer: No. The Court ruled first (1985). The Act of 1986 came afterwards and nullified the ruling.

The Ayodhya issue

The dispute concerned a site in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid, built in 1528, stood. Many Hindus regard the site as the birthplace of Ram. The structure was closed in 1949 after court proceedings began. In 1986, a district court in Faizabad ordered it opened for worship, and a foundation-laying ceremony (shilaanyas) was held, though further construction was not permitted. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the BJP and allied groups campaigned for a temple. In December 1992, the structure was demolished, and communal violence broke out in several parts of the country.

The legal dispute ended with the Supreme Court's verdict of 9 November 2019. A five-judge constitution bench gave a unanimous decision: the disputed site was to go to a trust for the construction of a temple, and an appropriate separate site was to be allotted to the Sunni Central Waqf Board for a mosque.

The chain in one line: 1528 structure → 1949 closed → 1986 unlocked → 1992 demolition → 9 November 2019 verdict

Elections from 2004 to 2019

The new consensus

Despite sharp competition, the parties share four broad understandings.

Key people and terms

Exam traps

60-second revision

Where this chapter connects

• Previous: Regional Aspirations shows why regional parties became important partners in national politics.
• Earlier background: Era of One-Party Dominance describes the Congress system whose end this chapter records, and The Crisis of Democratic Order covers the Janata experiment and the Mandal Commission's origin.
• Class XI link: Secularism and Social Justice give the ideas behind the debates on personal law and reservation.