This volume looks at the evolution of coalition politics in India, both at the national and provincial levels. It investigates the processes that led to coalition governments. It explores the formation of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Janata Party experiment, and the Third Front experiments. The book highlights the growing importance of regional parties in national politics and argues that the very notion of representation in terms of ‘national’ and ‘local’ is being redefined in the context of the emerging significance of coalition politics. It also examines the role of cultural synergy and political expediency in coalition politics and discusses the inevitability of coalition government in India.