Previous Year Question
Which among the following States did record the formation of maximum Coalition Governments in between 1967 to 1971?
Uttar Pradesh
Haryana
Bihar
Punjab
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
The 1967 General Elections marked an important turning point towards coalition politics in the Indian States. In several States, no single party secured a clear majority and different non-Congress parties came together to form Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD) governments. Bihar was a major example of this phenomenon.
The first SVD government in Bihar was formed under Mahamaya Prasad Sinha. It included ideologically different parties such as the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP), Praja Socialist Party (PSP), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Bharatiya Jana Sangh within the same coalition.
Political instability in Bihar was extremely high during this period. Parliamentary records describe the fall of Karpoori Thakur's government in June 1971 as the collapse of the eighth coalition government in Bihar since the 1967 General Elections.
A parliamentary account of the coalition-experiment period from March 1967 to August 1971 records 9 governments in Bihar, compared with 4 in Punjab and 3 in Uttar Pradesh. Thus, among the options given, Bihar experienced the highest frequency of formation and collapse of governments.
Important reasons for this instability included differences among coalition partners, defections by legislators and withdrawal of support. Consequently, Bihar also experienced spells of President's Rule during this period. Parliamentary records state that within less than five years after 1967, nine Ministries had fallen in Bihar.