Recent Developments in Indian Politics — Class 12 Political Science

This chapter takes a synoptic view of Indian politics since the late 1980s. Five developments reshaped politics: the defeat of the Congress in 1989, ending the 'Congress system'; the rise of the 'Mandal issue' as the National Front government implemented OBC reservations in 1990, triggering anti-Mandal protests; the new economic reforms or structural adjustment programme from 1991; the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and Ayodhya dispute, resolved by the Supreme Court's 2019 verdict; and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. The era of coalition governments began, with the National Front (1989), United Front (1996) and later the NDA and UPA, and regional parties gaining a central role, until the BJP won single-party majorities in 2014 and 2019. The political rise of the Other Backward Classes followed the Mandal Commission report and the Indira Sawhney case, while Dalit politics produced the Bahujan Samaj Party under Kanshi Ram. The BJP rose through cultural nationalism, the politics of Hindutva, the Shah Bano case and the Ayodhya issue. Despite intense competition, a broad consensus emerged among parties on new economic policies, acceptance of backward-caste claims, the role of state-level parties, and pragmatic coalition politics.