Coalition Government is a cabinet of a Parliamentary Government in which several parties cooperate. They are usually formed as no party can individually achieve a majority in the parliament. However, a Coalition Government may also be created during the times of national difficulty or crisis. For e.g. during wartime, high level of political authority is desired and also there cannot be any room for internal political discord. So, in such times, examples of parties having formed all-party coalitions are observed.
To deal with a situation in which no clear majorities appear through general elections, parties either form coalition cabinets, supported by a parliamentary majority, or minority cabinets which may consist of one or more parties. Generally, the majority based coalitions as well as majority Governments are more stable and long lived. Coalition cabinets are common in countries in which a parliament is proportionally representative, with several organized political parties represented.
India has had coalition governments at the Centre as well as in individual states since the last two decades. Due to the diversity in India, the benefit that a coalition has is that it leads to more agreement based politics and reflects the popular opinion of the electorate. The current UPA-Left arrangement had been formed after parliamentary elections in 2004. It consists of 13 separate parties. Though they have main adversaries in three states, this Government was still a stable one till Left withdrew support on matters of nuclear deal.
If a coalition collapses, a confidence vote is held or a motion of no confidence is taken.
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Aditi Rindani 