Q.Read the passage given below carefully and answer the following questions : Thus began an era of multi-party system ... . Our Parliament always had representatives from several political parties. But after 1989, no single party secured a clear majority of seats in Lok Sabha till 2014. This development initiated an era of coalition governments at the Centre.

1. The Bharatiya Janata Party won a clear majority in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
2. Two main problems of coalition governments are:

• Policy-making often slows down because the ruling party must negotiate with multiple alliance partners, each with its own agenda, leading to frequent compromises and delays.
• Coalition governments can be unstable; if one partner withdraws support, the government may fall before completing its full term, disrupting governance.

(iii) Two merits of the multi-party system in India are:

• It provides representation to diverse social, regional, and cultural groups, ensuring that varied voices and interests are heard in the political process. …

1. Which political party won a clear majority in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014? The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a clear majority in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014. This was a significant turning point because, as the passage notes, no single party had secured a majority on its own since 1989. For twenty-five years, every government at the Centre had been a coalition, requiring multiple parties to come together to form a government. The BJP's victory in 2014 broke that pattern.
   Important

   A "clear majority" means a party wins more than half of the total seats in the Lok Sabha on its own, without needing to rely on coalition partners to reach the majority mark.

2. In your opinion, what are the two main problems of coalition governments? Coalition governments, while necessary in a diverse democracy, come with two significant challenges. First, there is the problem of policy paralysis and instability. When several parties with different ideologies and agendas must agree on every major decision, the process becomes slow and often gridlocked. A coalition partner may threaten to withdraw support if its demands are not met, making the government's survival uncertain. This constant bargaining can prevent the government from taking bold or long-term decisions, as every policy must be a compromise acceptable to all partners. Second, coalitions often suffer from lack of accountability. When things go wrong, it becomes easy for each party in the coalition to blame the others. Voters find it difficult to hold any single party responsible for the government's performance. The focus of parties often shifts from serving the public to managing internal alliances and keeping the coalition together, which can dilute the government's effectiveness and responsiveness.
   Note

   A classic example of instability is the period between 1996 and 1998, when India saw three different coalition governments fall in quick succession, none lasting more than 13 months.

3. Analyse any two merits of the multi-party system in India. The multi-party system, which the passage describes as beginning an "era," is not a flaw but a strength of Indian democracy. Two key merits stand out. …