The commencement of the last session of Parliament last week marked the successful culmination of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s 13-party coalition government. I remember when Dr. Singh stood to take oath as Prime Minister; leaders from BJP had even made dire predictions of the government’s collapse within six months. I remember a private conversation with Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was the only opposition leader of import to have correctly ascertained the inherent strength of the UPA coalition. Vajpayee even predicted a full term for the government.

The Congress-led coalition had its share of bitter sweet experiences, but it never came close to turning into a government of compromises. On the contrary, Dr. Singh’s government never shied away from taking big decisions, even at the cost of aggravating its coalition partners. Even in case of the contentious Indo-US nuclear deal, while every effort was made to convince some coalition partners and win their trust and support, the government did not waver from its conviction.

The success of the UPA government proves that a coalition government is successful only when a major political party is leading the alliance. Coalition experiments of Third Front and United Front failed for this reason alone. Inevitably, these alliances end up disrespecting the electoral verdict as the single largest party has provided only an external support.

Pakistan’s new war

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s confession that Taliban is a major threat to the existence of Pakistan has hardly surprised me. In my Rajya Sabha speech immediately following the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks, I clearly pointed out the complete helplessness of the Pakistani government in dealing with the rogue fundamentalists led by Taliban and Al Qaeda. While everyone has been blaming Pakistan for the Mumbai terror attacks, the Pakistani regime in fact has no control or influence over these fundamentalist forces. Pakistan’s media and its people have ignored this bleak reality for far too long and they have paid a heavy price so far.

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