BY P. RAJESWARA RAO

It is nearly a year and a half since autonomy began to function in the Indian Provinces. Democracy and ministerial responsibility work everywhere through the party system. The party system operates in two principal ways, viz., the single party system and the multiple party system. India has, at the present moment, the single party system in the seven clear Congress Provinces. But Bengal, Assam, Sind and the Punjab are witnessing the operation of the multiple party system. Recent events in these Provinces have raised apprehensions about the stability and permanency of the coalition Cabinets. At this juncture it is very necessary to understand and appreciate the implications of the situation.

In the British system, for example, coalitions are unusual though the present National Government looks as if it has come to stay. Coalitions are compromises in opinion and policy. Britishers have the reputation of being the world’s best compromisers. Even they do not favour this kind of compromise in the structure of the Government. If such a compromise is effected, it would, for obvious reasons, blunt the edge and blur the outline of policy and administration. Such a system of administration, in the long run, weakens the Government and the Opposition alike.

Coming to details, we find that the coalition Cabinets in the four non-Congress Provinces are having a hard time and experiencing strange difficulties. The recent escape of the Bengal Cabinet from defeat is truly a sad and significant commentary on the working of autonomy. Had not the European group voted ‘en bloc’ in their favour, the so-called victory would have been a defeat. It is a most embarrassing position which is welcome neither to the Cabinet nor to the Europeans. It is unworthy of any popular Ministry to depend for its very existence on the conditional support of a particular group.

In Sind things have been hopelessly unstable from the very moment of the introduction of autonomy. The first Ministry gave place to another, and the second Ministry has proved to be equally unstable, and is a source of great worry and anxiety to the people of Sind. We are told that this Ministry procured the moral support of the Congress Party by becoming Congress-minded. As a result of the recent crisis over the assessment proposals in the Sukkur Barrage area, the moral support is made conditional. It is difficult to predict what may happen to it tomorrow. Its fate is constantly trembling in the balance, and its existence wholly depends on the support it may receive, today from one Opposition Party and tomorrow from another. It is clear that such instability cannot be conducive to ordered progress.

Similarly, Assam also betrayed signs of instability. Some time ago the Assam Cabinet underwent a reshufflement and (it appears) gained some little strength thereby. But the tables may be turned at any moment. It is no wonder that the Ministry is unable to pursue any particular policy or stick to settled principles. Just now the Congress is trying to pilot its Cabinet. Rumours are rife about its stormy career. We have to wait and see.

In the midst of storm, the Coalition Ministry of the Punjab is still well-established. It may be said that this satisfactory state of things is due to the tact and administrative skill of the Premier of the Province. But the combination of its component elements is a highly artificial one. No one need be surprised if in due course the Cabinet breaks up. Recently, when highly contentious bills were introduced in the Legislature by the Premier, the hitherto calm and complacent atmosphere became very rough. His chief difficulty is not so much from the Opposition as from his own party, which is the citadel of highly conflicting and contradictory interests and ideologies. Most of the Muslim members, who constitute a clear majority, claim equally to be Unionists and Muslim Leaguers at one and the same time, while the Hindu supporters are similarly Unionists and also members of one Hindu organisation or another.

At the same time we should not lose sight of one redeeming feature of a Coalition Ministry. A Government with an unchallengeable majority is generally liable to use its power ruthlessly and to over-ride the just interests of the minority. When the parties are nearly balanced, one group of honest workers, who are above the dust and din of party politics, can hold the key position. It tends to moderation in legislation and to the avoidance of highly contentious measures. In spite of this doubtful utility, it is certain that a Coalition Cabinet is always a stumbling block, and impedes the progress of the Province concerned. Therefore the only remedy to avoid such an unnatural combination is to support the political parties that are based on broad issues of policy rather than on sectional interests. The existence of a mobile body of political opinion with no communal affiliations is essential if Provincial Autonomy is to have a full and fruitful expression.

BACK