Divided we stand India in a time of coalitions - Guha Thakurta, Paranjoy (SAGE Publications, 2007)
Includes index. - Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002
Introduction : India in a time of coalitions -- UPA government : congress in coalition -- Indian national congress : alive, but not quite kicking -- The Bharatiya Janata Party : in search of the right strategy -- Caste in stone: politics of the Hindi heartland -- Small is beautiful : rooted in region -- Left parties : Communists or social democrats? -- Friends in need : are coalitions inherently unstable? -- Friends in deed : can coalitions govern effectively? -- Illusion of consensus -- Gazing at a crystal ball -- Index -- About the authors
This topical and absorbing book, written by two eminent journalists, explains why India has entered a new era of coalition politics and analyses the consequences and implications of this relatively recent phenomenon. Transition from single party domination to multi-party configurations or coalitions, the authors argue, is neither temporary nor an aberration. Dismissing the notion of bi-polarity, and resting the debate on whether coalition governments are here to stay, the authors debate on whether coalitions are at best a necessary evil or are better than single-party governments