West Bengal and the fedralizing process in India

Since its independence in 1947, India, as a large, diverse, and rapidly changing country, has had to meet federalizing problems of a magnitude unprecedented in history. The result has been a federal izing process that combines, modifies, and transforms many established ideas about federalism. Professor Franda deals with the complexities of India's experi ence by analyzing the politics of center state relations as they affect one Indian state. He explores the various ways in which central and state leadership groups in India and West Bengal have developed working relationships, and examines the effect of state and regional political, economic, and social condi tions on the evolution of center-state be havior patterns.

The focus of the book is a series of three case studies dealing with the de velopment of working agreements be tween the governments of India and West Bengal. The case studies were completed before 1967, when the Con gress party was in a majority in both the state and central legislatures. The first case concerns redrawing the bound ary that divides West Bengal and Bihar. The Damodar Valley Corporation, a regional river development project in volving West Bengal and Bihar, is dis cussed next. The third case covers the development of land reform legislation in West Bengal. The evidence from these case studies indicates that despite the vast constitutional and political pow ers of the central government, political leaders and groups in West Bengal were not constrained to accept central gov ernment and party decisions. Party poli tics and political mobilization had be come exceedingly important for the operation of the federal system.