It is amazing to see the daily dueling between various political parties. The only thing that seems to matter is their desire to maximise seats in the Lok Sabha (especially for the smaller, regional parties) so that the ‘bargaining’ power is higher after the results are declared. As someone put it, the real elections will start after the elections are over.
Almost every permutation and combination is possible, except perhaps the BJP and Congress supporting such other, and the Left supporting the BJP. This is one of those elections where every senior leader thinks they have a fair chance of becoming Prime Minister.
I just hope the Indian electorate is smart enough to see through all of these machinations, and vote sensibly. At a time when we face a multitude of challenges, we need a government that is stable, can make bold decisions, and will not be held hostage by some of the smaller parties greedy for power.
As part of Friends of BJP, I am getting to see and understand Indian politics up close. And that’s helping me think through what changes people like us can do and how we can go about doing it. I will write more on this in the days to come.
