People desire to see cooperative politics goes beyond the realm of TV debates. Indeed, it will soon begin to impact the messy task of government formation. It is almost certain that news about the election results, when they are known on May 16, will read: “Hung Parliament again.” No single party or pre-poll alliance will get a majority on its own. There is nothing new about this news, since the last time a party secured a majority on its own was way back in 1984. Barring the Congress regime of P.V. Narasimha Rao, which was a minority government, every single government since 1989 has been a coalition. By definition, a coalition is a cooperative platform of political parties that agree to work together on a common agenda of governance. But what kind of a coalition government will the 15th Lok Sabha produce? And on what basis will political parties agree or disagree to work with one another? The verdict of the electorate will definitely be fragmented, although some party or pre-poll alliance will naturally have a larger tally than others. However, post-May 16, what the people want to see is less tu-tu-main-main and more of tu and main—namely, less of confrontation and more of cooperation among political parties in the interest of forming a stable coalition government.

It is my firm belief that the people of India will exhibit their democratic maturity in an amazing way in whatever mandate they give next Saturday. They will vote for change, that is for sure. Anti-incumbency, the bane of any non-performing government, will predictably ensure the defeat of the Congress-led UPA. But the people will also teach a lesson or two to every political party to shed its rigidities and learn to cooperate with others for the sake of giving India political stability, which is a crucial need both for our country’s development and security. This means that the BJP and the NDA, which are most likely to lead the tally, will have to construct an inclusive framework for attracting new allies to reach the halfway mark of 272. The legitimate concerns of Muslims and other minorities will have to be addressed in the agenda of the next BJP-led government. At the same time, the new allies in the NDA will have to discard the bogus terminology of “secular politics”, which is nothing but a byword for the Congress-Left combine’s blind and opportunistic anti-BJPism.

... contd.