What is remarkable however is that we all know that whoever forms the next coalition, there will be little radical change. Policies will broadly stay the same. Indeed whatever the rhetoric, policies have hardly been discussed. The reason is simple. What matters is to be elected and even more to be part of the government. Legislatures have long given up any creative work apart from rushing to the well of the house and making a hungama. So far we have had the less important stage of the election. On May 16 we shall know who are in the arena. Then will start the next vital stage of the election. Who will form the government?

To many people this looks like the fragility of Indian democracy or its immaturity. But in the ‘50s, when Nehru was around, many people worried: after Nehru who? It looked like India’s democracy was a one-man creation. This time around there may be a fortnight between the votes being counted and the emergence of a viable coalition. But no one is in the least bit worried about this. There is complete confidence that some coalition will come together, and, if it does not last, there will be another election.

This is what happens in mature democracies. It happened in the French Fourth Republic which lasted from 1945 to 1960. Italy has had more than 40 governments in the post-war period. No one should be worried that India will break up or lose its democracy. There is some anxiety about the character of the next coalition but this is only normal uncertainty.

... contd.