Centre-State Relations

The Constitution only lays down a framework; how centre-state relations actually work out in practice depends heavily on the shifting political situation. This relationship has passed through fairly distinct phases since Independence.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, under Jawaharlal Nehru, the same party -- the Congress -- was in power both at the centre and in almost all the states. Apart from disagreements over the creation of new states, relations between the centre and the states stayed largely smooth during this period. States looked forward to the grants-in-aid that came from the centre, and there was general optimism about the centre's plans for social and economic development.

From the mid-1960s, Congress's dominance began to weaken, and opposition parties started forming governments in a number of states. Because different parties were now ruling at the centre and in several states, state governments increasingly complained about what they saw as unwarranted interference by the Congress-led centre in their functioning, while the centre in turn was uneasy dealing with state governments led by rival parties. It was this political situation that gave rise to a serious debate about how much autonomy states should have within a federal system. …