Recent Developments in Indian Politics
Recent Developments in Indian Politics
The exam tests the post-1989 party system, Mandal and Mandir politics, coalition shifts and the 2014 and 2024 elections. You need sequence and significance.
Core rules and concepts
- 1989: Congress lost its majority; the National Front formed a minority government. The Mandal Commission report was implemented in 1990, reserving seats for OBCs; Indra Sawhney (1992) upheld reservations with the creamy-layer exclusion and a 50% cap.
- Ayodhya: the Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992, deepening Mandal-Mandir polarisation. The Supreme Court delivered its Ayodhya verdict in 2019, and the Ram temple was consecrated in 2024.
- The 1991 reforms and coalition era reshaped economic and federal politics. NDA formed governments in 1998 and from 2014; UPA governed in 2004-14.
- 2014: the BJP won 282 seats, the first single-party majority since 1984, shifting the party system toward dominant-party competition. 2019 strengthened this; 2024 returned a coalition NDA, showing coalition politics is not dead.
- Other trends: judicial activism, RTI 2005, welfare schemes, digital public infrastructure, GST Council federalism, and the rise of regional parties and social media.
Worked example
Why is 2014 called a critical election? Reasoning: a critical election produces durable realignment. The BJP's majority ended the post-1989 coalition pattern at the Centre and changed competition. But the 2024 coalition result shows realignment is not irreversible, so the claim needs qualification.
Traps
Reducing 1989 to Mandal alone; saying 2014 ended coalition politics permanently; treating Mandal as only about jobs; isolating Ayodhya from the wider party-system change.