Alliance Government In India: In this country, coalition governments have been getting the tag of helpless governments, not strong ones. An attempt is being made to attach the same tag to the Narendra Modi government once again, because he too is now the head of a coalition government, but if we look at the political history of the country, it is clear that the tougher decisions were taken by governments with full majority like Pandit Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi or others. Narendra Modi Coalition governments have also never lagged behind in taking tough decisions like the ones taken by the governments of the state.
While taking such decisions, the head of the coalition neither looked at his position as the Prime Minister nor the displeasure of the allies, rather he took those decisions which were in the interest of the country rising above his party, his ideology and his people.
VP Singh took tough decisions in the coalition government
After Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and then Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister, the first non-Congress and coalition government was formed in the country in the year 1977. This happened when elections were held after the Emergency in the country and Congress was defeated in it. Janata Party won in that and Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister.
In fact, despite being a coalition government, if the credit for taking the toughest decisions goes to any one Prime Minister, then it is Vishwanath Pratap Singh. VP Singh was the Prime Minister of a coalition government and he was being supported by two parties which were poles apart. That is, on one hand VP Singh had the support of BJP and on the other hand the left parties were also supporting VP Singh.
Despite being the Prime Minister of such a weak government, the decision taken by VP Singh to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission made him immortal in the history of Indian politics.
VP Singh’s government fell after Advani’s Rath Yatra was stopped
The result of implementing the Mandal Commission recommendations by VP Singh was that the Other Backward Classes started getting the benefit of 27 percent reservation. Ignoring all the opposition from within and outside his party, VP Singh implemented the Mandal Commission recommendations.
There were riots in the country in protest against this, but VP Singh did not back down, but when he took another big decision, his government fell. This decision was to stop Lal Krishna Advani’s Rath Yatra. While taking this decision, VP Singh knew that Advani’s arrest would cost him the post of Prime Minister, but VP Singh took this decision. Advani was arrested in Samastipur, Bihar and then BJP withdrew support and toppled VP Singh’s government.
Narasimha Rao also took historical decisions
A similar historic decision was taken by PV Narasimha Rao. In 1991 Lok Sabha Elections In 1994, Congress had got only 244 seats. This figure was 28 less than the majority, but the number of other parties was even less, so Narasimha Rao’s government was formed. It was a minority government, which was supported by some small parties from outside. Despite this, the decisions taken by Narasimha Rao to save the country’s economy have no parallel.
Narasimha Rao appointed Manmohan Singh as his finance minister in the minority government. In the very first budget presented on 21 July 1991, Manmohan Singh opened the Indian economy to the world. Liberalisation began which continues even after 34 years of the decision and no one has been able to change it.
Nuclear tests were conducted during Vajpayee government
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who became the Prime Minister for 13 months in the coalition government, also did not hesitate in taking big decisions. India had to conduct its nuclear test, but Vajpayee’s allies were not ready. On top of that, America and many countries of the world were threatening India, but Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not hesitate and took a decision in the interest of the country.
By conducting three nuclear tests one after the other, India showed the world that it is now a nuclear-rich country. However, another decision taken in the interest of the country backfired heavily on Atal Bihari Vajpayee. That decision was to not dismiss the Karunanidhi government of Tamil Nadu.
Jayalalitha, who was supporting the Vajpayee government, wanted Vajpayee to withdraw the corruption cases against her, remove Defence Minister George Fernandes from his cabinet and also dismiss the Karunanidhi government of Tamil Nadu. Vajpayee did not make any effort to save his position. He did not listen to Jayalalitha and the result was that Vajpayee had to resign from the post of Prime Minister within 13 months because his government fell by one vote.
Manmohan Singh’s tough decisions in the coalition government
Manmohan Singh, who became the head of the coalition government in 2004, continued to run the coalition government for the next 10 years. In these 10 years, he took many big and historic decisions like MNREGA and Right to Information. However, there came a time when it seemed that Manmohan Singh’s government would fall. This was the time of the first UPA government, in which Congress decided that it would do a civil nuclear deal with America, but then the leftist parties supporting Congress opened a front against Congress.
Manmohan Singh knew that if the left parties did not support him, the government would fall, but he did not agree. On behalf of the Congress, Sonia Gandhi decided that the deal should be reconsidered to save the government, but Manmohan Singh was adamant and agreed to resign. The result was that the Congress got the support of the Samajwadi Party and some other parties, after which the nuclear deal was done and the government continued.
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