How did the era of coalition governments after 1990 change the practice of federalism in India? Explain with two points.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:17 · grounding rag
Model Answer
After 1990, the rise of regional political parties led to the era of coalition governments at the Centre, as no single party got a clear majority in the Lok Sabha. This changed federalism in two important ways:
- Respect for State autonomy: Major national parties had to ally with regional parties to form the government. This created a new culture of power-sharing and greater respect for the autonomy of State Governments.
- Difficult to dismiss State governments arbitrarily: A Supreme Court judgement made it harder for the Central Government to dismiss State Governments in an arbitrary manner, making federal power-sharing more effective than in the early years.
Source: Chapter 2 – Federalism, Section: Centre-State Relations
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Explanation
- The examiner expects two clear, distinct points — label them or write in separate sentences.
- The key phrase from the textbook is "new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments" — try to include it.
- Mentioning the Supreme Court judgement as a supporting factor for the second point earns full marks.
- Avoid writing about linguistic states or decentralisation here — the question is specifically about the post-1990 coalition era.